THERE were no flowers at his funeral – and no songs, hymns or poems.

When Camden Market tarot reader Terry Donaldson, or “Terry Tarot” as some simply knew him, took his final journey at Hendon Crematorium last Tuesday, there were only a handful of mourners to pay their respects.

His service was arranged by Barnet Council and few were aware of his passing.

Yet, at the peak of his popularity Terry’s face and voice were known to many. He enjoyed a good lifestyle and the wealth that went with his TV popularity as a leading fortune forecaster. 

During the height of his popularity, he made appearances on This Morning and The Big Breakfast, before hosting his own show, Fate And Fortune.

Once a squatter in Ferdinand Street, Chalk Farm, Terry was only 58 when he was found dead at his flat in Hendon. His death was, like the man himself, a mystery.

The cause could not be disclosed to all but family members “for public protection”, not even details of his GP, said Barnet Council property protection officer Eghe Eweka.

Terry read tarot from a pitch at Camden Market, where he picked up his nickname, before the 2007 fire and latterly at a shop in Holloway Road, Highbury.

He wrote half a dozen books on tarot reading and the occult and a best seller, Hell In Barbados, which told of his years in prison for attempted drug smuggling.

“I had a four-bedroom house, a wife, a Mercedes Benz 320 and a career in television,” he once said. “By the time the drugs had worn off, I was left with nothing, except debts totalling about 100 grand and an infection of hepatitis C. 

“Then I was offered a trip abroad – to ‘do a run’ – to fly out to some place and bring back a suitcase full of cocaine. For this I was to be paid five grand. Believe it or not, it seemed like a good idea at the time.” 

His memoir describes a brutal regime inside Glendairy prison in the Caribbean. 

“It was like finding yourself in the middle of a Crimean War battlefield,” he told the New Journal on his return. “The cell blocks were like a scene from Dante’s Inferno when he looks at all the condemned souls and all the suffering taking place.”

Father of a son – believed to be in New Zealand – and a daughter living in Sussex, he finally “saw sense” and changed his ways completely.  

Friends marvelled at his knowledge of astrology and listened to his stories of times spent rubbing shoulders with lords and ladies at society parties.

“He was an amazingly talented man and a terrific storyteller,” said former newspaper reporter David St George. “He wore the most outrageous costumes – including headgear – quite regularly and always gathered an audience. A larger-than-life character, he will be sadly missed by those he came in contact with.”

An ex-girlfriend attended the funeral along with three members of a theatrical group, who got to know him through their performances. 

“He was once a bad man who turned into a very good, caring soul,” said a mourner.