? Lady Margaret ‘Madge’ Shelton ?
? Margaret, known as Madge, was the daughter of Sir John Shelton and his wife Anne.
Anne was the sister of Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire – the father of King Henry VIII’s second Queen consort, Anne Boleyn.
Madge was thus the first cousin of the Queen.
? Madge became Lady-in-waiting to her cousin Queen Anne Boleyn, and was present when Anne made her first appearance as queen on Easter Eve, 12th April 1533.
Madge may have became Henry’s mistress for a period of about six months, starting in February 1535.
? Madge was described as fair-skinned, soft-spoken, charming, and very pretty.
It was thought, that while pregnant, Anne pushed Madge into the arms of the King, to keep his interest wondering to Jane Seymour.
Some accounts suggest otherwise, claiming Anne was jealous of the affair, and also of the constant attention ‘Pretty Madge’ received from all the gentlemen of the king’s Privy Chamber.
? Reports claim that the queen disliked Madge’s frivolousness, and scolded her for writing “idle poesies” in her prayer book.
Madge’s supposed affair with The King, however, did not last long.
Madge began to be courted by Sir Henry Norris, the king’s groom of the stool.
? Henry Norris, however, showed no signs of securing any marriage with Madge, enjoying the company of the Queen instead.
Was Norris worried about encroaching on the king’s “territory,” or was he hesitant to marry a woman, who was the king’s ‘discarded mistress’.
Henry Norris would lose his head, as one of the accused lovers of Anne Boleyn.
Meanwhile, the king swiftly moved on to another maid-of-honour, Jane Seymour……
? Madge married a man named Thomas Wodehouse after Anne Boleyn’s exEcution.
She had seven children with him before his death in battle, in 1547.
He was knighted posthumously by the king, and Madge was given the title of Lady Wodehouse.
At this point, she fades away from the records…..
? Laura Jane Laughlin plays Madge Shelton in ‘The Tudors’
About The Author
