Princess Diana's Friends In The Crown Season 5 Include An Acupuncturist & Astrologer

In the second episode of The Crown Season 5, Princess Diana’s longtime friend Dr. James Colthurst makes his first appearance. After Diana visits the radiologist’s hospital, journalist Andrew Morton introduces himself to Colthurst, kicking off a consequential chain of events. The doctor would ultimately serve as the middleman between the royal and Morton, ferrying audio tapes of the princess’ answers to interview questions, leading to his 1992 bombshell book, Diana: Her True Story.

Diana first met Colthurst at a chalet in the French Alps when she was a 17-year-old socialite and he was still in medical school. The pair maintained their sibling-like relationship until they had a falling out prior to Diana’s fatal car crash in August 1997. According to journalist Tina Brown’s 2007 book, The Diana Chronicles, in light of all the controversy, the princess “exiled everyone associated with helping her produce the Morton book,” including Colthurst in 1995. However, Colthurst wrote in a 2021 Telegraph column that they’d smoothed things over and spoke on the phone “not long before her death.”

He wasn’t the only close confidante in her life though. In The Crown, Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) lists the names of several friends who can corroborate her claims about her marriage to then-Prince Charles for Colthurst to deliver to Morton. Here’s a breakdown of who Diana’s other friends were and where they are today.

Felix Lyle

In British journalists Tim Clayton and Phil Craig’s Diana: Story of a Princess, astrologer Felix Lyle described a visit from Diana when she was trying to decide whether to participate in Morton’s book. According to Lyle, with whom she shared her private marital issues, the princess had serious reservations about answering Morton’s questions. “But she wanted revenge — there's no question about that,” he claimed in 2001. “I think she was bitterly, bitterly hurt and would see the tearing down of the royal family as a perfectly justifiable end.”

Oonagh Shanley-Toffolo

Also depicted in The Crown, acupuncturist Oonagh Shanley-Toffolo (portrayed by Olwen Fouéré), who nursed the Duke of Windsor prior to his death, worked as a missionary nun in the slums of Calcutta before taking a job as a London midwife. She also studied alternative medicine in China and would later become Diana’s spiritual guide and healer. When Diana visited Shanley-Toffolo at her ailing husband’s bedside, the acupuncturist introduced her to future love interest Dr. Hasnat Khan. In 2002’s The Voice of Silence: A Life of Love, Healing and Inspiration; The Remarkable Story of Princess Diana's Spiritual Guide, Shanley-Toffolo also wrote about their special relationship. She died 13 years later in August 2015.

Stephen Twigg

Diana also names “bodyworker” Stephen Twigg, who she says is “like an osteopath,” as a friend in The Crown. The body-mind therapist and masseuse, who worked with the royal from 1988 to 1995, wrote a book in 2012 called Diana: Her Transformation, in which he tells the story of her “transformation from unhappy young woman, suffering from depression, bulimia and thoughts of suicide, to powerful figure on the world stage who was able to challenge governments and cause a royal dynasty to bow to the wishes of a nation.”

Sue Beechey

Finally, there was also an aromatherapist named Sue, who’s likely Aromatherapy Associates co-founder Sue Beechey. She would reportedly make up essential oils to be transported to Kensington Palace for Diana— who was one of the brand’s first customers — to be used during her acupuncture sessions. Their oil blends were meant to support emotional and mental well-being and are still for sale today.