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...However recent research has suggested that it was Mary who was rumoured to be Henry's mistress, and was rumoured to have been selected to become his fourth wife. Supposedly, the confusion of earlier historians arose from the label "Marg Shelton", in which the "y" resembled a "g", a common confusion in sixteenth-century writing.

Mary would have been a ‘lady-in-waiting’ to Anne, and although the two were cousins, according to Hart, "...this did not mean that their families were allies--not all Boleyns supported the queen..."  In point of fact, Queen Anne has been said to have been deeply in love with Henry and also very jealous of his attention to other women. Mary, known for having contributed greatly to the Devonshire MS, wrote many poems about love. Queen Anne was especially jealous that Mary could have been writing love poems about her husband, the King. To make matters worse, Mary has been described as a young girl of great beauty and talent, and her friends at court were a great influence on her, most of them also being highly literate. According to one historian "Rumour twice linked Mary amorously with Henry VIII". This other rumour, that Madge Shelton might become Henry's wife in 1538, appears in one of the Lisle Letters