When it comes to choosing the right reading, however, it’s all about who you know: the best psychics are only heard about through word of mouth – and, of course, here in Tatler.
Best for looking forward
Liz King is the fashion crowd’s favourite psychic and championed by Bella Freud in particular. The fashion designer even threw a psychic-themed party where guests – including Violet von Westenholz, Christabel MacGreevy and Laura Bailey – were encouraged to have readings done by Liz. ‘She read everyone in about 15 minutes,’ says Violet, who also talks to the Scottish psychic on a regular basis. ‘We all came away saying, “She knows everything about my life.”’ Liz, who has been doing virtual readings during the pandemic, uses spiritual guides to look at her clients’ current situations – usually their love lives or career ambitions – and contemplate their future endeavours. ‘She puts one’s mind at ease; it’s almost like therapy,’ says Violet. Liz is accurate, too: ‘Everything she says comes true.’
Another psychic adored by the fashion set is Jacqui Cosham, who goes by the name of Lady Lilac. For 25 years, Lady Lilac was Vogue House’s self-anointed resident psychic. Her colleagues at Condé Nast would clamour for readings at lunchtime – along with models, who would flood into her lilac painted office for some tarot. Now Lady Lilac reads her clients’ futures virtually, as well as at her base in Fitzroy Square. Rumour has it that Wendi Deng is a client – although Lady Lilac remains resolutely tight-lipped on the subject.
Best for looking back
The West Sussex crowd are fond of a local healer named Neville (surname largely unknown), who connects with his clients’ past lives by holding crystals suspended on wires above their bodies. He was recommended to illustrator Bell Hutley by her friends – who are, she says, very ‘tapped into’ psychics and have spent the lockdowns looking into their past lives. Readings, which sometimes last three hours, take place in Neville’s studio, which, other than a row of glittering crystals, is very under stated. ‘He taps into how you’re feeling in your body,’ says Bell. ‘He runs you through where you’ve had trauma in your body, if you’ve had heartbreak, and talks to you about your past life.’ To cleanse his clients’ chakras, Neville places crystals on their hands and chests: ‘You get rid of all the negative energy you’ve been holding onto from your past life,’ says Bell. ‘You leave feeling much lighter.’ Neville has remarkable foresight, too – and a talent for predicting the gender of high-society babies.
Best for healing waves
Caroline Stanley, daughter of the late Lord Renton, visits Brenda Adey, ‘a brilliant radionic healer’, in Richmond, North Yorkshire, once a month. ‘She keeps me on the straight and narrow,’ she says. Brenda uses a ‘very sophisticated dowsing wand’ – as effective virtu ally as in person – to diagnose and heal ailments. ‘It’s fascinating,’ says Caroline. ‘It’s as though the wand itself is psychic, too.’
