Ælfweard of Wessex

Born around 902, Ælfweard was Edward the Elder's second son, the eldest by his second wife Ælfflæd. When his father died in July 924, succession split: some sources suggest Ælfweard took Wessex while his half-brother Æthelstan took Mercia. If he ruled at all, it lasted only until August 924, when Ælfweard died — suddenly, and under circumstances the records don't clarify. Æthelstan inherited everything, and Ælfweard became a footnote: the prince whose throne vanished before it was ever really his.