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    1. Celebrity
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    Holistic Healer Says Princess Diana Emitted "Flashes of Intense Anger" and "Extreme Sadness" During Treatments

    Diana turned "to a range of New Age philosophies" in the late '80s and early '90s.

    Kristin Contino#039;s avatar
    By Kristin Contino
    Published 5 November 2025 In News

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    Princess Diana wearing a red and white dress and scowling
    (Image credit: Getty Images)
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    While navigating her marital issues and struggles within the Royal Family, Princess Diana often sought comfort and guidance from spiritual advisors and healers like Stephen Twigg, a holistic health practitioner she worked with from 1988 to 1995. In his book Dianaworld: An Obsession, author Edward White wrote that Twigg—who was also a massage therapist—"quickly deduced that there was much more going on with the princess than a few troublesome knots in the neck."

    In December 1988, Twigg had his first consultation with Diana, "who told him that her sore muscles made her feel 'so down.'" The princess added that she hated "to disappoint people by not being on top of my game." But the holistic practitioner—who went on to author Diana: Her Transformation and The Kensington Way—said that when he started massaging her body, "turmoil and confusion" began to emanate from Diana's stomach.

    "I suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of sadness sweep over me," Twigg said, describing "the release of her facial muscles" as allowing "a tidal wave of emotion to surge out" of her body.

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    The holistic practitioner thought Princess Diana's aches were tied to "emotional issues," which he deemed were "a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder," although White notes, "it's unclear what qualified him to make that diagnosis."

    At the time, Diana was intensely unhappy in her marriage, and Twigg's notes included an array of things he thought her body emitted, including, "fleeting sensations of fear," "flashes of intense anger, bordering on rage," "excruciating self-judgement," and "extreme sadness and abject loneliness."

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    He went on to work with Diana for the next seven years, becoming an "influential figure in the last decade of her life," per White. Twigg opened the door to Diana's interest in spiritual healing and the supernatural, introducing her "to a range of New Age philosophies."

    Princess Diana wearing a striped purple and green blazer

    Princess Diana relied on New Age healers in the late '80s and early '90s.

    (Image credit: Getty Images)

    "Over the years, Diana went through a revolving door supply of astrologers, faith healers, numerologists, tarot card readers, clairvoyants, psychics, and 'spiritual advisors,'" Christopher Andersen, author of The King, told Fox News.

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    She turned to everything from crystals to aromatherapy in her quest to improve her mental and physical health, and even used an "energy healer" to come into Kensington Palace and cast out "negative energies from each room," per White.

    Although one can argue that Diana was taken advantage of by New Age "healers" eager to make a buck off a lonely and vulnerable woman, White noted that Diana's "search for spiritual healing knotted itself to her mission to heal others, the core of her understanding of the purpose of monarchy."

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    Diana
    Kristin Contino
    Kristin Contino
    Senior Royal and Celebrity Editor

    Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

    Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

    Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.

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