[2] On 7 July 1519, there is a record in the archives of Henry VIII's court that notes the payment of an annuity of 25 pounds to Margaret.
From August 1536, there is a widely quoted letter from her to Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's chief minister, in which she complains of the economic difficulties of the household of "lady Elizabeth" since the change in her status (from legitimate to illegitimate) following the annulment of the King's marriage to her mother Anne Boleyn, and Anne's execution in May.
I beg you to be good lord to her and hers, and that she may have raiment, for she has neither gown nor kirtle nor petticoat, nor linen for smocks, nor kerchiefs, sleeves, rails, bodystychets, handkerchiefs, mufflers, nor "begens.
"[7] (The more obscure items in this list are identified by the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd edn) as: rails = nightdresses; bodystychets = corsets; begens = nightcaps.)
Margaret Bryan passed over responsibility for Elizabeth to Katherine Champernowne in October 1537 following the birth of Prince Edward, who became her new charge.
[11] Margaret Bryan had royal Plantagenet bloodlines through her paternal great-grandmother, Anne of Gloucester, who was the granddaughter of King Edward III.
In the TV series The Tudors, the role of "Lady Margaret Bryan" is played by Jane Brennan.
Like many of the characters in the show, she is a composite of the woman on whom she was based and also of Anne Shelton, who was in overall charge of Princess Elizabeth's household.
Unlike Margaret Bryan, Anne Shelton had a very difficult relationship with Mary Tudor when she was living in Elizabeth's household.