Medium’s verdict on ‘cursed’ painting that brings bad luck to whoever owns it

A medium says she has attempted to assess the spirit inside a ‘haunted’ portrait which sent the country into a spin.

The headshot of an unnerved-looking child was returned twice to a charity shop in St Leonards-on-Sea, near Hastings in East Sussex, after customers claimed it was ‘cursed’.

After the painting received a large amount of attention online, it was auctioned off online and purchased for the modest sum of £1,680.01 by the owners of the London Bridge Experience.

But since its installation in the entrance of the tourist attraction in time for Halloween, staff claim they have been plagued by unusual amounts of bad luck.

Claire Evans from Paranormal Investigators spent two days at the London Bridge Experience to try and figure out what has been going on.

She said: ‘I believe there is a lot of sadness attached to the painting, and when I first connected to it I was getting a second floor window, a green field and water.

‘I can hear a woman crying and I feel that this is this young lady’s mother.’

Claire believes the ‘spirit’ of the young woman has been captured in the portrait – and thinks her name may be Annabel.

She also claims she has found a link to a Tudor country house regularly visited by the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

Claire said: ‘When I connected with her, I was told this was a painting of a ghost that has been seen in a house.

‘I was getting the name Horsted Place – which does exist – it’s not too far from Hastings, and is now called Horsted Place Hotel.’

She said she senses ‘so much sadness’ in her family history.

Claire added: ‘I wonder if there was an evacuation through the war – this could be where Horsted comes into play, as it may have been a place that took evacuees.

‘There is also the spirit of a pregnant lady within this painting – she was very heavily pregnant and she leaves pools of water.

‘I believe she drowned by accident, and the pools of water will appear wherever she is.’

She said this reflects one of the incidents staff at the London attraction came across when a puddle of water was randomly found on the floor.

The London scare show described a run of bad luck since obtaining the portrait, including the water pools and electrical problems. Manager James Kislingbury also suffered a shoulder injury soon after going to collect the picture.

Claire continued: ‘I also get smoke and fire – I can see a house burning, but it’s a smaller house than Horsted. If you look at the painting it’s almost as if she has this smoke veil in front of her.

‘There is another energy coming from the painting, which can happen if the painting moves around and other spirits connect to it and it creates a portal.’

She said a ‘spirit coming through from medieval times’ could be the dark shadow some previous owners saw, causing them to think it may be ‘cursed’.

But Claire added: ‘I don’t feel evil attached to the painting, but I feel sadness and loss. I feel the young girl in the picture needs my help, but she will not give me permission to help her move over – so I’m going to have to do a bit more with that.

‘I don’t believe that bad luck is intentionally set to people who touch the picture, I just think it’s the sadness, loss and tragedy attached to it that has that snowball effect of bad luck.’

If you want to see the painting for yourself, you can book tickets for its adult Halloween show here.

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