Short answers, pulled from the story.
Margaret Shelton was the youngest daughter of Sir John Shelton and Anne Boleyn's sister, serving as an attendant to her cousin Anne Boleyn. Historical records confirm she was a courtier rather than the King's mistress, a role mistakenly attributed to her due to a confusion with her sister Mary Shelton.
The confusion regarding Madge Shelton's identity as the King's mistress dates back to the winter of 1535 when Imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys wrote a note referring to her as Madge. This error persisted for decades until modern research clarified that the woman holding the King's favor was actually Margaret's older sister Mary Shelton.
Margaret Shelton was present in the room during Anne Boleyn's miscarriage which occurred within hours of Katherine of Aragon's death. Hugh Latimer identified Madge Shelton as the woman who attended Anne during this tragic event, marking her as a witness to the unraveling of the Boleyn dynasty.
The confusion stems from a single handwritten note by the Imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys who referred to Mistress Shelton as Madge in cursive script. This script style made the name easily mistaken for Mary, leading historians to believe the King's mistress was Margaret instead of her sister Mary Shelton.
Margaret Shelton escaped the fate of her relatives by marrying Thomas Woodhouse, the son of Sir Roger Woodhouse, in a strategic alliance that removed her from the royal court. She bore a son named Roger Woodhouse around 1541 and continued her lineage through the gentry ranks after the political purge.
Margaret Shelton was the first cousin to the future Queen Anne Boleyn and served as one of her loyal attendants until the very end of the Queen's life. She remained by Anne's side during her miscarriage and was one of the few women who did not turn against her cousin during the political purge orchestrated by Thomas Cromwell.