Lynn Picknett is a writer of books that are mainly about pseudo-religious history and popular conspiracy theories, the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...

, the

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

, and historical and religious mysteries.

Life

Born in Folkestone, Kent, England, in April 1947, Picknett grew up in an alleged

haunted house A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the prope ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, attending Park Grove Junior School and

Queen Anne Grammar School Queen Anne Grammar School for Girls was a single-gender female state grammar school in the city of York, England. It began in 1906 as the Municipal Secondary School for Girls and was based in Brook Street. At the end of 1909 the pupils were tra ...

. After graduating from university with an Upper 2nd (hons) degree in English Literature, she briefly became a teacher, a shop assistant, and a

stand-up comic Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

before moving to London in 1971 to join Marshall Cavendish Publications as a trainee sub-editor. In the 1980s, she was Deputy Editor on '' The Unexplained'' and contributor to many other publications. She was also a regular contributor on various radio shows, including Michael van Straten and

Clive Bull Clive Bull (born 23 January 1959) is an English radio talk show host, best known for presenting a late-night show on LBC in London. Background Bull was educated at Dulwich College in south east London, between 1970 and 1977 where he was a leadin ...

's on LBC and Talk Radio. She was also a television presenter for both Anglia and

Southern TV Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was con ...

. In 1990 she was guest curator for the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

's exhibition ''The Unexplained at Bath'', performing the same function in 1999 for the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television at Bradford. In the early 1990s, she teamed up with fellow researcher and writer Clive Prince. Their first book, ''Turin Shroud: How Leonardo da Vinci Fooled History'', claimed that the characteristics of the

Shroud of Turin The Shroud of Turin ( it, Sindone di Torino), also known as the Holy Shroud ( it, Sacra Sindone, links=no or ), is a length of linen cloth bearing the negative image of a man. Some describe the image as depicting Jesus of Nazareth and bel ...

could be reproduced using only a

pinhole camera A pinhole camera is a simple camera without a lens but with a tiny aperture (the so-called ''pinhole'')—effectively a light-proof box with a small hole in one side. Light from a scene passes through the aperture and projects an inverted image o ...

(camera obscura) and that

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

, in producing the image, used his own face for the model of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. This overlooked the fact that the first exhibition of the Shroud of Turin, authentic or not, was in 1357, almost one century before the birth of Leonardo. Their 1997 ''

The Templar Revelation ''The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ'' is a book written by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince and published in 1997 by Transworld Publishers Ltd in Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand. It proposes a fringe ...

'' was credited by

Dan Brown Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his Thriller (genre), thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), ''The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), ''The Lost Symbol'' (2009), ''In ...

, both in ''

The Da Vinci Code ''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon: the first was his 2000 novel ''Angels & Demons''. ''The Da Vinci Code'' follows symbologist Robert Langdon ...

'' and in the 2006 court case (Baigent & Leigh v Random House), as the main inspiration for his novel. Picknett and Prince perform most of the research for their books themselves, but also have collaborated with others. Between 1998 and 2003, they produced three books in partnership with researchers Stephen Prior and Robert Brydon, including ''Double Standards: The

Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position unt ...

Cover-Up'' (2001). They have credited Keith Prince as a contributor to ''Turin Shroud'', and Philip Coppens for help with ''

The Stargate Conspiracy ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

(1999)'', which they dedicated to him. Picknett and Prince make a brief appearance in the film ''

''. The pair appear on a London bus as the protagonists are travelling to the

Temple Church The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...

, off

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

in central London. Robert Langdon (

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

) leaves his seat to join Sophie (

Audrey Tautou Audrey Justine Tautou (; born 9 August 1976) is a French actress. She made her acting debut at the age of 18 on television and her feature film debut in ''Venus Beauty Institute'' (1999), for which she received critical acclaim and won the Césa ...

) at the back of the bus, and Picknett and Prince are seen sitting on the left.

Works

She is the co-author of: * ''Encyclopedia of Dreams'' (1988) (with Anna Fornari and Emilio Rombaldini) * ''Turin Shroud: In Whose Image? the Truth Behind the Centuries-Long Conspiracy of Silence'' (1994) (with Clive Prince) * ''

'' (1997) (with Clive Prince) * ''Stargate Conspiracy: The Truth about Extraterrestrial Life and the Mysteries of Ancient Egypt'' (2001) (with Clive Prince) * ''Double Standards: The Rudolf Hess Cover-Up'' (2002) (with Clive Prince and Stephen Prior) * ''War of the Windsors: A Century of Unconstitutional Monarchy'' (2002) (with Clive Prince and Stephen Prior) * ''Friendly Fire. The Secret War between the Allies'' (2004) (with Clive Prince and Stephen Prior) * ''The Sion Revelation'' (2006) (with Clive Prince) * ''The Masks of Christ: Behind the Lies and Cover-ups About the Man Believed to Be God'' (2008) (with Clive Prince) *''The Forbidden Universe'' (2011) (with Clive Prince) * ''When God Had a Wife: The Fall and Rise of the Sacred Feminine in the Judeo-Christian Tradition'' (2019) (with Clive Prince) She is the author of: * ''The Loch Ness Monster (Pitkin Guides)'' * ''Royal Romance an Illustrated History of the Royal Love Affairs'' * ''Mary Magdalene: Christianity's Hidden Goddess'' * ''The Secret History of Lucifer'' * ''Mammoth Book of UFOs'' * ''Flights of Fancy? 100 Years of Paranormal Experiences''

References

External links

Official website of Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince
{{DEFAULTSORT:Picknett, Lynn 1947 births Living people People from Folkestone Fortean writers Researchers of the Shroud of Turin English writers on paranormal topics Pseudohistorians English women writers