Princess Diana and Prince Charles might have had the royal wedding of a century in 1981, but as we all know by now, the cracks in their marriage started to show early on. Charles is said to have started his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles (now Queen Camilla) in 1986, per his authorized biography Prince of Wales by Jonathan Dimbleby. As her fairy-tale marriage crumbled, Princess Diana sought guidance from an unexpected source: the mystical world of "spiritual advisors."
"Over the years, Diana went through a revolving door supply of astrologers, faith healers, numerologists, tarot card readers, clairvoyants, psychics, and 'spiritual advisors,'" reveals Christopher Andersen, author of The King, in a recent interview with Fox News.
According to Andersen, many of these consultants simply confirmed what Diana already suspected about her husband's infidelity with Camilla, noting that "Most...told her what she already knew: that her husband was cheating on her with his old flame."
The princess's increasing reliance on spiritual guidance spoke to her deeper emotional struggles. A palace source told royal author Sally Bedell Smith (via Vanity Fair) that "In the late '80s and early '90s she was with every different sort of person. They marched in and out, and I don't know how they got there, but once you get into that scene, it's a cry for help."
Vanity Fair also noted how the late princess sought out treatments like "colonic irrigation, reflexology, aromatherapy, acupuncture and hypnotherapy" in an attempt to find "comfort and guidance."
Diana—who showed many traits of her star sign, Cancer—turned to astrology as early as the mid-1980s. Her interest in alternative therapies seems to have been introduced by brother-in-law Prince Andrew and his wife, Sarah Ferguson, per the outlet.
In 1986, the Duke and Duchess of York "referred a despondent Diana, tortured over her failing marriage to Prince Charles and the pressures of royal life, to astrologer Penny Thornton." This timeline matches up with the reported start date of Charles and Camilla's affair, a period when Diana was likely seeking answers from any source she could find.
The royal's former bodyguard, Ken Wharfe, also noted that "Diana was in the thrall of all these mad psychics," in Tina Brown's book, The Diana Chronicles.
While some viewed Princess Diana's interest in the metaphysical as evidence of her vulnerability, others saw it as a natural response to her isolation within the Royal Family.
“During our first meeting, my endeavor was to provide her with the means to turn her situation around from being a passive victim to an active member of the Royal Ramily who was equal to her husband,” Thornton said, via Vanity Fair. The astrologist added that she "suggested" the Princess of Wales take her pain and use it to "relate to those who also suffered."
"I think you could say it worked," Thornton concluded.
