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While alchemy and the occult are often dismissed today as pseudoscience, these mystical practices were once taken seriously. The concept of a philosopher’s stone, capable of turning base metals into gold and granting immortality, dates back to ancient Greece. For centuries, many attempted (and failed) to prove its existence. The occult was a prominent subject during the Renaissance, where astrology was sometimes treated as a scientific pursuit, and the fear of dark magic fueled intense witch hunts. Here are 10 royals, from history and the present day, who have ventured into the realm of the occult.
10. Queen Elizabeth I
In 1555, John Dee was arrested on charges of witchcraft after casting horoscopes for Queen Mary I and Princess Elizabeth. However, he was acquitted and regained favor with Elizabeth when she became queen. She trusted him to choose an ideal date for her coronation, which took place on January 15, 1559, based on his astrological insights. In 1564, Dee was officially appointed “Royal Advisor in mystic secrets,” and served as the queen’s court astrologer, advising her on both political and scientific matters.
While Elizabeth’s curiosity about mysticism appeared to be limited to astrology, Dee ventured further into the supernatural, claiming to communicate with angels through a medium. However, Dee lost his standing when James I ascended the throne. He was accused of sorcery once more, and the new monarch refused to absolve him. James I despised the occult and witchcraft to such an extent that he even authored a book on the subject, Daemonologie (1599).
9. Queen Victoria
There have been rumors suggesting that Queen Victoria of England participated in séances, though no official confirmation exists. This could be due to the queen’s lack of genuine interest in the occult, or possibly because her daughter, Princess Beatrice, censored her journals and letters after her death.
In 1846, it’s been speculated that a young clairvoyant named Georgiana Elizabeth Eagle performed for Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, at Osborne House. Later, in 1861, following Albert’s passing, it’s said that a teenage medium named Robert James Lees went into a trance during a séance, supposedly channeling Albert’s spirit. Some even suggest that Lees continued to hold séances for Victoria, allowing her to communicate with her deceased husband.
There are also claims that John Brown, Victoria’s beloved companion and rumored lover, acted as a medium to facilitate communication with Albert. However, no historical records confirm these alleged encounters.
8. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna
Alexandra Feodorovna, Queen Victoria's beloved granddaughter, became part of the Russian Romanov family when she wed Emperor Nicholas II in 1894. Their son, Alexei, was born in 1904 and suffered from hemophilia, a condition in which blood fails to clot properly. Alexandra had a strong belief in the occult, engaging in séances and consulting with clairvoyants, and she turned to Grigori Rasputin, now recognized as one of the world’s most renowned mystics, for help.
Alexandra and Nicholas welcomed Rasputin into their inner circle, hoping he could cure their son. This decision stirred controversy, with some people dismissing him as a fraud. However, the royal couple remained convinced of his mystical abilities, particularly his power to stop Alexei's severe bleeding. Modern historians now propose that it was Rasputin’s advice to avoid aspirin (which thins the blood) that contributed to the boy’s seemingly miraculous improvement.
7. Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II
In addition to his numerous political roles as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria, Rudolf II was deeply involved in the study of the occult. While dark magic and witchcraft were criminalized during the Renaissance, astrology and alchemy were still seen as legitimate scientific disciplines. When Rudolf moved the royal court to Prague Castle, the city became a hotspot for alchemical practices.
Rudolf's court attracted several notable alchemists, including John Dee, astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I, and his companion and medium, Edward Kelley. Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel also met with Rudolf, where they exchanged ideas on Kabbala, the mystical interpretation of the Jewish Bible. Rudolf is also known to have owned the Voynich manuscript, an infamous text written in an undeciphered code or language. It's believed that he may have acquired the manuscript from Dee, though its exact history remains uncertain.
6. Queen Catherine de’ Medici
Catherine de’ Medici, born in Italy, became Queen of France in 1547 after marrying King Henry II. As the mother of French kings Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III, she wielded significant power for many years. Following the sudden death of Charles in 1574, a pamphlet circulated accusing her of witchcraft, leading to her infamous reputation as the Black Queen. The pamphlet claimed that 'with the wave of her wand and enchanted potions, she transformed people into wild beasts and stripped away their humanity.'
Further scandal ensued when Jean Bodin’s book De la démonomanie des sorciers (1580) suggested that Catherine had participated in a Black Mass, during which a child was sacrificed. While there is no concrete evidence to support these allegations of dark magic, Catherine’s strong interest in astrology is well-documented.
Cosimo Ruggeri served as her advisor and astrologer, and in 1555, she invited the renowned seer Nostradamus to her court after reading his prophetic predictions in Les Prophéties (1555). She had him prepare horoscopes for her children and, in the years that followed, appointed him as Counselor and Physician-in-Ordinary to her son, the young King Charles.
5. Emperor Yongzheng
Throughout history, many Chinese emperors sought alchemical elixirs in hopes of achieving immortality. Despite the known dangers of these potions, many rulers met their end due to mercury poisoning in their quest for eternal life. The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, was the first to die from such an elixir in 210 BC. The last emperor to succumb to this fate was Emperor Yongzheng, and surprisingly, his death occurred as late as 1735.
At the time of his death, it was officially claimed that Yongzheng passed away from exhaustion caused by overwork. However, rumors circulated suggesting he had been assassinated by Lü Siniang, who allegedly sought revenge for the execution of her relative, Lü Liuliang. Based on court documents, it is now widely believed that Yongzheng’s death was due to mercury poisoning. The true cause was likely concealed at the time, as belief in immortality-granting elixirs had waned, and officials didn’t want to tarnish Yongzheng’s legacy.
4. King Philip II
Along with significantly expanding Spain's global influence, King Philip II of Spain was also a dedicated supporter of the arts and sciences, including alchemy. In 1584, the grand royal palace of El Escorial was finished, featuring a church, college, library, and even alchemical distillation laboratories. The palace became a hub for knowledge, with Philip contributing to the library's collection of historical, scientific, and literary works, as well as inviting alchemists to conduct experiments in the labs.
In 1591, Philip brought Irish alchemist Richard Stanihurst to his court after learning that Stanihurst had created a panacea, or universal cure. Unfortunately, Stanihurst's experiments with the potion failed to yield results. Philip was also intrigued by transmutation and had people attempting to turn base metals into gold, but these experiments were also unsuccessful. While panaceas and transmutation are now known to be myths, Philip II's interest in alchemy was rooted in scientific exploration rather than a fascination with the supernatural.
3. Princess Märtha Louise
Not all royals interested in the occult are from the distant past. Princess Märtha Louise, currently fourth in line to the Norwegian throne, works as a clairvoyant. In 2002, she left the royal household, renouncing her official “Her Royal Highness” title and her $1 million yearly allowance. Since then, she has built a career around her claimed clairvoyant abilities. She became a motivational speaker and, for several years, operated an “angel school,” where she taught others how to communicate with angels and the deceased.
In 2019, Princess Märtha Louise faced backlash for using her royal title to profit after offering a seminar series called “The Princess and the Shaman,” which she co-hosted with her self-proclaimed shaman fiancé, Durek Verrett. She agreed to stop using her title and officially withdrew from all royal duties in November 2022. However, the couple continues to face criticism from the media for promoting pseudoscience. Verrett has claimed that he can cure illnesses (including cancer), reverse aging by altering atomic structures, and that he is a hybrid of “a reptile and Andromeda.”
2. King Frederick William II
King Frederick William II of Prussia was drawn to the mystical, becoming involved with Rosicrucianism, a spiritual movement founded in the early 17th century that sought hidden, esoteric knowledge. As a prince, Frederick William had been a member of the Masons, but he sought a deeper, more mystical experience. He claimed to hear the voices of ghosts and even held séances to communicate with spirits. During the War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–79), he met Johann Rudolf von Bischoffswerder, and after falling ill, was cured by an esoteric Rosicrucian elixir provided by Bischoffswerder.
This mystical experience left a lasting impression, and in 1781, Frederick William formally joined the Rosicrucian brotherhood, with Johann Christoph von Wöllner overseeing his initiation. When Frederick William became king in 1786, both Wöllner and Bischoffswerder were granted influential positions at court. Bischoffswerder even had a machine that he claimed could summon spirits, and during a séance at Charlottenburg Palace, the ghost of Frederick William’s namesake, Frederick William “The Great Elector,” reportedly appeared and advised the king to end his relationship with his mistress.
1. Crown Princess Hwi
In the early 1400s, during the reign of King Sejong of Joseon (modern-day Korea), Crown Prince Munjong married Lady Kim, who became known as Crown Princess Hwi. However, their marriage was short-lived, as Hwi was deposed after King Sejong accused her of practicing witchcraft. The king specifically accused her of using “the sorcery of yin and yang manipulation to gain her husband’s favor.”
The princess had turned to her lady-in-waiting, Hocho, seeking help to win the love of the prince. Hocho advised her to take two steps: first, to burn the shoes of her romantic competitors and mix the ashes into Munjong’s wine so that he would be repelled by them; second, to apply snake sperm to a cloth and wear it on her body to gain his affection. Sundeok, another lady-in-waiting, discovered remnants of the shoe leather used in the ritual and grew suspicious. She brought her concerns to King Sejong, who questioned the crown princess. After confessing, Hocho was executed, and Hwi was stripped of her title and exiled from the palace.
