Page "Edward the Confessor" Paragraph 27

Edmund Ironside's son, Edward Ætheling, had the best claim to be considered Edward's heir.

He had been taken as a young child to Hungary, and in 1054 Bishop Ealdred of Worcester visited the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry III to secure his return, probably with a view to becoming Edward's heir.

The exile returned to England in 1057 with his family, but died almost immediately.

His son Edgar, who was then about five years old, was brought up at the English court.

He was given the designation Ætheling, meaning throneworthy, which may mean that Edward considered making him his heir, and he was briefly declared king after Harold's death in 1066.

However, Edgar was absent from witness lists of Edward's diplomas, and there is no evidence in the Domesday Book that he was a substantial landowner, which suggests that he was marginalised at the end of Edward's reign.