Info gypsies at the palace: how a used car salesman became Princess Diana’s coach

The unhappy marriage and subsequent divorce to Prince Charles was a severe psychological trauma for Princess Diana. It is not surprising that she took every opportunity to drown out the pain and then turned to various specialists.

Thus, Diana consulted aromatherapist Sue Beachy, acupuncturist Una Shenley-Tofolo, astrologer Felix Lyle, nutritionist Roderick Lane and even Ayurvedic osteopath Nishi Joshi.

But his closest thing was Stephen Twigg, a former used car salesman who became his massage therapist between 1988 and 1995. Twigg himself combined massage with life coaching and positioned himself as a “healer , metaphysician, spiritual traveler and explorer of the mysteries of life”.

He claimed to have studied spiritual philosophy, including Japanese Zen Buddhism and Chinese Taoism, martial arts and Japanese tea ceremonies. All of these practices eventually helped him understand how mind and body work together.

Later, Diana admitted that she was indebted to Steve for his help in the most difficult times.

Twigg advised Diana on the nutritional supplements she should take, gave her talk therapy to help her cope with difficult situations, such as visiting “big houses” (as she called Balmoral, Windsor and Sandringham ), and encouraged her to try positive affirmations.

In general, if a “marathon of desires” already existed then, it seems that Diana would have passed it.

In the royal press, Twigg was even nicknamed “Rasputin”, in reference to his influence on the representative of the royal family.

However, unlike his historical “colleague”, Stephen managed to take full advantage of the proximity to the aristocrat.

Twigg claimed to have cured the Princess of Wales of bulimia and published a book in 1996 called The Kensington Plan outlining her philosophy of “food pairing” to help people lose weight and achieve optimal health. The book became an international bestseller.

In 2012 he published another book, Diana: Her Transformation, in which he claimed to have played a key role in transforming her from a “broken and desperate woman” into an “extremely powerful person” who confidently performed on the World Scene.

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