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Christmas of 1065 would have been a grim affair. And as 1066 approached, the Court was likely consumed with anxiety. The King was childless and the throne was being eyed from all sides by foreign dynasties and, according to sources like William of Poitiers, the King had been terribly ill for quite some time. Poitiers tells us that this illness had become so severe in 1063 that the King had made preparations for succession, believing he was already on his deathbed.