The Spiritual Quest of Princess Diana: A Personal Journey
When Princess Diana found herself in a loveless marriage to the former Prince Charles, she desperately turned to the mystical world for guidance.
“Most… told her what she already knew: that her husband was cheating on her with his old flame,” Andersen noted.
“Over the years, Diana went through a revolving door supply of astrologers, faith healers, numerologists, tarot card readers, clairvoyants, psychics, and ‘spiritual advisors.’ Most… told her what she already knew: that her husband was cheating on her with his old flame.”
Diana’s search for answers in the supernatural realm was not merely a flight of fancy; it was a reflection of her deep-seated loneliness and emotional turmoil. The countless sessions she engaged in reveal a personality seeking solace, perhaps in places where light doesn’t necessarily dwell.
Andersen’s comments came shortly after Vanity Fair revisited energy healer Simone Simmons’ book, “Diana: The Last Word,” which concentrated on her intricate relationship with royalty.
According to the outlet, Diana’s calendar “was crowded with appointments with psychics, spiritualists, astrologers, energy healers, palmists, tarot readers, and dowsers.” She “also indulged in frequent sessions with alternative medical treatments, including colonic irrigation, reflexology, aromatherapy, acupuncture, and hypnotherapy.”
“In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, she was with every different sort of person,” a former palace official shared with royal author Sally Bedell Smith, as reported by the outlet.
“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.”
Alluring yet chaotic, Diana’s life scribbled with the signatures of psychics was a stark portrayal of her inner struggles. She became ensnared in a world of intuition and guesswork, bubbling with questions about who she was and where she belonged. But her fears about Charles were very real.
Charles met Camilla Parker Bowles in 1970 through a mutual friend, Lucia Santa Cruz. Their immediate connection felt electric to him, yet lacked the royal approval for longevity. After a lush romance, Charles’s naval duties and societal constraints drifted them apart. While resting in the comfort of friendship, the seeds of betrayal began to grow.
While Charles anchored himself within duty, Camilla married Andrew Parker Bowles, a figure from his own family’s past. They shared a friendship that masked the heartache curling in its shadow.
Author Penny Juror noted in “The Duchess: The Untold Story,” that Charles and Camilla’s affair ignited sometime around 1978 or 1979, with Andrew allegedly aware of their closeness. Meanwhile, Lady Diana Spencer entered the picture, and between the intertwining lives, she became a beautiful yet fragile puzzle piece.
“According to Tina Brown, she went ahead with [her secret tell-all] ‘Diana: Her True Story’ on the advice of an astrologer, Felix Lyle, who was connected to her intermediary, James Colthurst,” Fitzwilliams indicated. This act of defiance shifted the balance, igniting a conflict that positioned Diana against the very institution meant to support her.
As her union dissolved, holistic practices offered her a refuge, both substantive and superficial. The advisors she sought were often monetarily infused with her insecurities, aiming to provide clarity amidst the clouds of uncertainty.
Diana’s question for astrologer Penny Thornton encapsulates her despair perfectly: “I just wanted to see if there is light at the end of the tunnel.” Too often, that tunnel felt unbearably dark, especially as her marriage teetered on the brink.
Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles ended their marriage in 1995. Shortly after, Charles confessed his longtime love for Camilla in a striking television interview.
In a poignant 1995 BBC interview, Diana spoke of her failed marriage, stating that Charles remained emotionally intertwined with Camilla. Realization struck like a thunderbolt when she discovered the rekindled relationship years into their marriage, leaving her in emotional ruin. “I was so depressed that I deliberately hurt myself in a desperate bid for help,” she shared.
“There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” commented the Princess, articulating a reality that danced between loyalty and loneliness.
Following their divorce, Diana continued to lean on her spiritual guides. Vanity Fair reported that Diana possessed a firm belief in the afterlife, often claiming to communicate with her departed grandmother, Countess Cynthia Spencer, whom she envisioned as her guardian angel from beyond the veil. She confessed to believing she had lived as a nun in a past life, and feared how her experiences might be interpreted by society.
Even so, motherhood weighed heavily on her heart. Diana wanted to understand her sons’ futures. Particularly she sought insights into Prince William’s destiny, often questioning if he would ascend the throne someday.
Simone Simmons also noted Diana’s anxiety over Charles’s well-being, echoing worries that perpetuated her need for guidance.
However, even Simmons recognized that Diana was often a target for the agendas of the very people she turned to for comfort.
Describing Diana, Simmons noted, “Diana was one of the most insecure people I had ever met.” The lament echoed the painful truth of her existence. Each search for solace unearthed vulnerabilities, leading her through therapies both beneficial and detrimental, as she straddled the line between sanity and chaos.
Just before her tragic accident, Diana consulted her friend and spiritual advisor, Rita Rogers, hoping to divine the future for her then-boyfriend, Dodi Fayed. Rogers spoke of a visit from Dodi’s deceased mother, warning against the perils of Parisian roads.
Rogers shared, “I saw a tunnel, motorcycles, this tremendous sense of speed.” Ironically, wisdom often remains just out of reach. While Rogers advised Diana to caution Dodi, she never connected the dots that Diana herself might be caught in the throes of that fate. “I would have warned her as well,” Rogers confessed, “but I just didn’t see her in the car with him.” A chilling realization.
Diana’s intuitive foresight was unsettling. She penned her belief that she would likely die in a car crash, convinced that it would be a staged assassination masquerading as an accident.
In 1997, her life abruptly ended in a Paris car crash at just 36 years old.
Years later, Prince Harry would confront similar feelings surrounding his mother’s legacy. In his memoir “Spare,” he recounted an experience with a woman gifted in the spiritual arts.
“You’re living the life she couldn’t,” the unidentified woman revealed to Harry, a statement that struck a chord deep within him. “You’re living the life she wanted for you.”
The woman’s mention of a broken ornament belonging to Queen Elizabeth, one that his son Prince Archie had accidentally damaged, further entwined their stories.
“Your mother says she had a bit of a giggle about that,” declared the medium. A bittersweet connection, nervously laced with laughter.
