When Anne Boleyn made her way to the scaffold inside of the Tower of London on the 19th
May 1536, the second wife of Henry VIII had been sentenced to death for treason, incest
and adultery.
Her crimes are today considered falsities and untrue, and because of this she’s believed
to have been a victim of her husband the King and his chief advisor Thomas Cromwell.
Employed inside of the Tower of London with her in her final days were a group of women
who some believe were loyal to Anne, but it’s most likely that these women were brought
into the prison for a few weeks by Cromwell to spy and pass on any information that the
Queen may have disclosed.
This could then have been used against her to secure her execution.
But inside of the Tower was one of her aunts who had been appointed to serve her.
But who is this forgotten aunt of Anne Boleyn?
Lady Anne Shelton is a Tudor woman who is not the most well known, however she there
when many of the most important and shocking events of Henry VIII’s reign played out.
She was born in 1475 at the Boleyn family home of Blickling in Norfolk and was the daughter
of Sir William Boleyn and Lady Margaret Butler, the daughter of the 7th Earl of Ormond.
Her brother was Thomas Boleyn who later rose to become a prominent courtier inside of Henry
VIII’s court.
It’s believed that Anne Shelton had a brilliant education, one befitting her status and probably
her father wished for her to marry a wealthy member of another aristocratic family across
England.
This would have secured him further wealth and power, but before 1503 she married Sir
John Shelton who was a courtier of Shelton a nearby village.
He would later be appointed the comptroller of the joint household of Henry VIII’s daughters
Mary and Elizabeth, the future Mary I and Elizabeth I. John Shelton was appointed the
High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1504 by Henry VII, (7th) and following Henry VIII’s coronation
he then became a Knight of the Bath, and later the High Sheriff of Suffolk.
The couple lived in Shelton Hall in Norfolk and it seems their marriage was a happy one.
Anne Shelton gave birth to three sons and 7 daughters, and many of these children went
on to have prominent places in the households of other powerful Tudor people.
Her son for example John later married the older sister of Jane Boleyn, the Viscountess
Rochford.
So having lots of children around must have been very busy for Lady Shelton.
One of her daughter’s, recorded as Madge Shelton it’s believed was a mistress of
King Henry VIII, and this was either Margaret or Mary Shelton.
It’s believed that she became Henry VIII’s mistress for around 6 months, but this caused
a huge amount of friction between Queen Anne Boleyn and Lady Shelton.
But when the King married Anne Boleyn, Lady Anne and her husband became more integral
parts of court life, as the King married Lady Shelton’s niece.
When Anne Boleyn gave birth to Princess Elizabeth, Lady Shelton and her sister Alice Boleyn were
appointed to the household of the Princess at Hatfield House.
Following this, Mary the King’s eldest daughter joined this household.
Previously Mary had been made illegitimate and banned from using the title of Princess,
and she was forced to be lower down the attentions of the attendants and servants then Elizabeth
was.
Lady Shelton was put in charge of Mary and was involved in enforcing the King’s rules
and wishes with regards to his daughter Mary.
She forced Mary to use the title of Lady, and tried to get her to completely accept
Anne Boleyn as the rightful Queen.
Mary refused to submit to this, and when someone called her Lady she would state that she was
a Princess.
Princess Mary was incredibly unhappy at Hatfield House under the stewardship of Lady Anne Shelton,
and she was very isolated.
She would eat a large breakfast so she could avoid eating with others in the hall at other
times, and would often claim she was sick so she could have her evening meals brought
to her private chambers and she would eat alone.
Anne Boleyn was furious about this, and she said that if Mary continued this way then
she would be starved and would be forced to eat dinner in the ball.
She also gave Lady Anne permission to box her ears if she tried to continue to claim
she was a princess.
Lady Shelton was also told off a number of times for being too lenient on Mary, and for
showing her too much respect.
It’s unlikely that she beat Princess Mary or inflicted physical violence, but definitely
could have been verbally abusive to her.
She was then slandered in February 1534 by the Duke of Norfolk and George Boleyn for
being too kind to Mary, and they said she should treat her as the illegitimate girl
that she was.
It was said that Lady Shelton stated, ‘even if it were so, and that she was the bastard
daughter of a poor gentleman, her kindness, her modest and her virtues called forth all
respect and honour.’
She was forced to follow the King and Queen’s ideas and plans, and Mary continued to complain
about her treatment.
She was punished further and had her jewels and clothes taken, and any valuables she possessed
were confiscated.
It got to the point where Mary had to beg for money, and Mary later refused to follow
behind Princess Elizabeth when they moved to a new house.
Lady Shelton had Mary physically lifted up and bundled into a carriage behind.
But following the Act of Succession, it was said that Mary was not a Princess any more
by law, and that her mother was not a Queen.
Mary I was forced to accept this and if she did not then she could have been sent to the
Tower of London.
Mary did refuse this, and it’s believed that someone encouraged her to protest this,
and Lady Shelton was placed in charge of finding out who did this.
But then Mary became ill, and she had problems with headaches and her stomach, and Lady Shelton
then fetched in an apothecary who gave her pills that made Mary worse and almost killed
her.
Lady Shelton was worried that she could have been accused of attempting to poison Mary,
but she eventually recovered.
It was Anne Shelton who told Mary her mother had died, but following this Anne Boleyn began
to ease up her treatment on her step daughter Mary.
The Queen was pregnant again, but miscarried and Lady Shelton allowed Mary more lenient
treatment.
She was allowed to see ambassadors, but then Anne Boleyn’s downfall came.
Anne was frustrating the King with her miscarriages and inability to provide him with a son, and
his eye had been caught by Jane Seymour.
Because of this, Cromwell had Anne Boleyn his second wife arrested, and then imprisoned
at the Tower of London.
One of the 5 ladies who greeted her when she arrived was Lady Shelton.
She had been appointed by Cromwell to attend on the Queen, and these women were really
tasked with spying on her and providing Cromwell with a detailed report of every word she said.
Inside the Tower of London Anne was tired and sentenced to death.
She was executed by swords on the 19th Mary 1536, and several women accompanied her to
her execution and the scaffold.
It’s very probable and possible that Lady Shelton could have been one of these who stayed
with her until her head had been taken clean off.
These women then dealt with the Queen’s body, packing her remains into an oak chest,
before taking it inside the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula for burial.
Following this, Sir John Shelton, Anne’s husband had been appointed the Steward of
the Household of Mary and Elizabeth.
The pair were then made the Governor and Governess of Princess Elizabeth after Anne’s execution,
and were tasked with bringing up Princess Elizabeth.
Lady Shelton also encouraged her daughters to befriend Mary I, and treat her well.
She later went to live with her father the King, and later gave gifts to Lady Shelton.
Her family continued to experience a significant amount of favour, and when Princess Elizabeth
later became Queen Elizabeth I, she summoned the Shelton family to court and they were
prominent courtiers during her reign,.
However on the 8th January 1556, Lady Anne Shelton died in Norwich.
Her burial site today is disputed, and her children continued her legacy.
Lady Anne Shelton is the forgotten Boleyn woman who was heavily involved in bringing
up Princess Elizabeth to become one of the greatest Queens that England has ever had.
In this, she was key to the future of the Tudor dynasty during the reign of Henry VIII,
but she was a woman who demonstrated strength and kindness to Henry VIII’s children.
She may have been there also on the scaffold when Anne Boleyn’s head was struck clean
off her body, which makes her a witness to one of the most shocking events of the Tudor
period.
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