Friday Bite 31 October 2025
A Hurricane of Change
“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis.” Donald Trump, 29 October.
“[These tests] certainly cannot be viewed as nuclear testing at all.” Dmitri Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, 29 October
“His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew. Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.”
“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.”
“Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.” Buckingham Palace 30 October.
HURRICANE MELISSA MADE landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday with wind speeds of 185 mph. It was the worst storm to hit the island since records began 174 years ago. The category 5 storm weakened as it made its way across the Caribbean, but at least 50 people have lost their lives. Jamaica is decimated.
As I often say, the planets don’t affect the weather, but it’s hard not to see the symbolic connection between such an epic storm and life-changing events in people’s lives, not least Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
In America the government shutdown continues, affecting the lives of millions of ordinary Americans. Unless it is resolved in the next few days, millions may not receive food aid, millions may go without heat and thousands of troops could have to work without pay. And all the while ICE agents continue to arrest immigrants and US citizens alike, often in brutal ways reminiscent of the Nazi purges of the 1930’s. And where was President Trump? On a tour of Asia, having some awkward moments in Japan – wandering off during a welcome ceremony – and in South Korea talking happy talk with a visibly embarrassed President Xi Jinping. Not to mention the American president’s revelation during a press conference on Airforce One that he had recently taken a “very hard” aptitude test in which he had to identify a number of wild animals.
I’m not sure how long the United States can go on ignoring the evidence before its eyes of the president’s cognitive decline, but hopefully it will be before he gets anywhere near the nuclear button. It seems inevitable that this administration will collapse before the midterm elections, very possibly in the period from late January and a series of transformational Pluto transits to late February with the solar eclipse at 28 degrees of Aquarius, which falls on the US Moon.
Early in the week, during a visit to a military hospital in Moscow, Vladimir Putin let drop that “another invincible” Russian weapon had been successfully tested. It appears he was referring to Satan 2 (a much-anticipated intercontinental ballistic missile) and Poseidon, an underwater nuclear torpedo, which allegedly has a range of 6,000 miles. How interesting, and certainly synchronistic, that both these weapons of mass destruction bear names that resonate with the current Saturn-Neptune conjunction.
THE FATE OF Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly known as Prince, was under discussion in last week’s Friday Bite but in the space of two weeks his situation has gone from bad to the worst-possible-case-scenario, and thus worthy of a second look.
The announcement from Buckingham Palace (included in full at the beginning of this article) came at 7:00 pm on Thursday. It is widely believed that King Charles finally had the courage not only to officially remove his brother’s titles and honours but found a way to remove him from Royal Lodge, something he had been struggling to do since his coronation. However, according to Tom Sykes in his substack The Royalist, Prince William was the driving force behind the cutting edge, “formal process” to strip Andrew of his titles and honours: Sykes also added that a source close to Prince William had said that “William is King in all but name now.”
The history behind the former prince’s disgrace officially starts in 1999 with Andrew’s introduction to Jeffrey Epstein, although according to Andrew Lownie’s impeccably researched biography Entitled, the Yorks had known Epstein for at least decade by then.
In April 2015, allegations that Andrew had sexually assaulted the seventeen-year-old Virginia Giuffre in March 2001 appeared in court documents in Florida.
In November 2019, Andrew steps back from public duties after a disastrous interview on BBC TV in which he claimed never to have met Ms Giuffre.
In January 2022, the Queen strips Andrew of a range of military affiliations and royal patronages.
On 15 February 2022, Andrew reaches a settlement with Virginia Giuffre for a figure of some £12 million.
On 26 April 2025, Virginia Giuffre takes her own life.
On 14 August, Andrew Lownie’s biography Entitled is published, exposing the extent of the York’s depravity.
12 October: an email from Andrew to Epstein is released in which he writes, “we are in this together”.
17 October: Andrew gives up his titles and honours but retains his birthright as prince.
30 October: the former prince is stripped of all titles and honours and becomes Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
You may remember that I suggested the solar eclipse of September 21 at 29 degrees of Virgo would place its signature on seismic changes within the monarchy. We now know the precise events that have led to just such a scenario. And this wave of change is far from over, extending to at least the end of February 2026 and the solar eclipse at 28 degrees of Aquarius.
To set these current events in their correct perspective, only twice in royal history have titles been removed. The first occurred in the sixteenth century when Henry VIII removed the titles of his daughters (Queens Mary I and Elizabeth I) and in the twentieth century when British royals who fought on the side of Germany in World War One were stripped of their titles.
As I mentioned in last week’s Bite, 2025 is turning into something of an annus horribilis for King Charles. (The Late Queen Elizabeth referred to 1992 as her annus horribilis over the shameful events within the royal family, which threatened the very existence of the monarchy.) The Uranus-Neptune conjunction placed its signature on that time as indeed does the current Uranus-Neptune sextile.
However, the more important conjunction is that between Saturn and Neptune. The Saturn-Neptune cycle has played a major role in the history of the royal family. Queen Elizabeth 1 came to the throne on the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Taurus and Queen Elizabeth 11 on the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Libra. But it’s not only coronations, which mark the end of one regime and the birth of another, that are responsive to the Saturn-Neptune cycle but crises that affect the monarchy’s existence. In 1936 and the Saturn-Neptune opposition on the Virgo-Pisces axis, King Edward VII abdicated the throne, imperilling the monarchy.
So, here we are in 2025, in the throes of another volatile period for the British throne. I believe the steps taken in the past two days have done much to assure the future of the monarchy, not least the King’s and Queen’s concern for the victims and survivors of the sexual abuse, but there is, as I said earlier, more to come.
Friday Bite 24 October 2025
House Title For Sale
“We’re in this together.” Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein in an email, 2011
“We are not living in a functional democracy any longer. It’s not too late to save it, but it is just important to acknowledge that we aren’t on the precipice of losing our democracy. We are losing it every single day. We are not a functional nation with a rule of law any longer, and those toppled walls in the East Wing are a pretty stark reminder of that.” Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American, 22 October
“I think I’m not maybe heaven-bound… I may be in heaven right now as we fly in Air Force One. I’m not sure I’m gonna be able to make heaven, but I’ve made life a lot better for a lot of people.” Donald Trump, 13 October.
GOOD NEWS! With so much heartache and tribulation in the world, I decided to open with the great good news of a breakthrough in the treatment for Multiple Sclerosis. CAR T-cell therapy aims to reset the immune system by introducing a patient’s own T cells to hunt out infected or damaged cells which are affecting nerves in the brain and spinal cord. While not a cure, the therapy has the ability to prevent permanent disability in MS sufferers.
This kind of therapy is one of a number of groundbreaking discoveries that is helping us combat diseases that were once a death sentence. 2025 has been a spectacular year for scientific breakthroughs, revealing a whole other dimension of these unprecedented alignments that have otherwise presided over such devastation and disorder.
Another breakthrough worthy of note took place on Thursday when King Charles and Pope Leo prayed together in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. Not since Henry VIII parted company with the Catholic Church (1534) over Pope Clement VII’s refusal to annul the marriage between he himself and Catherine of Aragon, has such an event taken place.
In that moment, a 500-year-old rift was mended.
On Tuesday, Japan’s new prime minister was announced. Sanae Takaichi is the country’s first female leader. She is from the far right and an admirer of Margaret Thatcher, which may explain why some refer to her as the “Iron Lady”. Surprising really, given that she is a pliable Sun Pisces with a nurturing Mars in Cancer. Then again, she has a formidable Moon in Scorpio and was born on the steely Saturn-Jupiter conjunction in Capricorn.
The day before, France’s former president, Nicolas Sarkozy began a five-year prison sentence. And with transiting Pluto currently hovering over his natal Chiron, a major part of his healing journey is surely taking place, and certainly a period of exile.
Which brings us on to other news.
Volodymir Zelensky was on his way to a meeting at the White House when last week’s Friday Bite went up. And what a meeting it turned out to be. According to reports, raised voices were the polite way of putting it. Since then, however, there has been another pivot by the American president, and in place of fire and fury over Ukraine’s refusal to concede territory, on Wednesday the Trump administration slammed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies. Since then, there has been a flurry of diplomatic activity between Zelensky and the Coalition of the Willing, and it seems we are at yet another potential turning point for the war in Ukraine.
Certainly, Tuesday’s new moon in Libra squaring Pluto is the stuff of change and transformation.
Speaking of which, the White House is, as we speak, undergoing a massive transformation. Gone is the East Wing, the People’s House, and with it more than a hundred years of history contained within its Palladian walls. (Roosevelt oversaw the construction of the building in 1902.) It appears Mr Trump needed no permission for the demolition – you’d probably need an act of Parliament were the White House to be in England – and it also appears the president told a teeny-weeny porky-pie when he claimed that no part of the most hallowed building in America would be destroyed. And for what? A ballroom.
It’s hard not to see this act of sabotage as yet another metaphor for the demolition of America’s once enviable democracy.
And just in case you had forgotten, Saturn and Neptune are currently moving back and to over the United States’ IC, the very roots of the nation, the homeland.
Great Britain has a rather different set of problems, although its roots could be said to be shaking. Yesterday, the Labour Party lost a bi-election in Caerphilly, which has serious implications for the future. Labour has been the largest party in Wales for more than a hundred years, and with this shocking defeat its future is looking distinctly shaky. Sir Keir could become the Labour leader who lost Wales. Now, that’s an epithet you don’t want.
Neptune and Saturn are presently hovering over Great Britain’s Moon at 29 degrees of Pisces. The people, represented by the Moon, are confused, lost. We don’t know to whom to turn to fix our existential problems. Our borders are porous. Our spirits waterlogged. Our soul is in torment. Forgive the purple prose, but the country is going through a difficult time, and as if we needed any more to wail about, the monarchy is awash with controversy.
Last Friday, at seven o’ clock, a statement was issued by Prince Andrew. (Following nearly a hundred years of tradition, important notices from the Palace have been announced on the six o’ clock news, although the main television news programme is now broadcast at ten.) Anyway, regardless of the time, the statement was met with shock and awe. Prince Andrew had fallen on his sword and was relinquishing his titles, first and foremost his Dukedom.
Hoorah! God save the King!
This decision had come in the wake of fresh revelations about his alleged connection with the late Virginia Giuffre. Not only had Prince Andrew long denied any knowledge of Ms Giuffre, although he paid over £12 million to settle her civil lawsuit out of court, but despite claiming during a television interview in 2019 that he had severed links with Jeffrey Epstein in 2010, he continued to have contact with him, telling the convicted paedophile in an email, “We’re in this together.”
Within twenty-four hours, the belief that Andrew had fallen on his sword had faded, replaced by the understanding that relinquishing his titles didn’t mean what we thought it meant. It would take an act of parliament for that to happen. Plus, as word would have it, Andrew came under intense pressure by the King to make the statement. This was not a man who had finally publicly acknowledged his disgrace. He was still the same entitled man who believed he had nothing to answer for.
I’m not going to explore Andrew’s chart in this Friday Bite because I have other astrological points to make, but I am directing you to note his Sun at zero degrees zero minutes Pisces, currently being squared by transiting Uranus. I’d also like to point out the significant progressions (solar arc): progressed Pluto conjunct natal Neptune and progressed Neptune on natal Saturn. The reason why I use solar arc as opposed to secondary progressions is that it allows for considerable movement by the slower moving planets, while maintaining their original relationship with each other. In this way, these two important progressions, both of which imply loss and ignominy, hint at the conditions of an ineluctable destiny being met at this time.
The above chart represents the “birth” of the Windsors. Given that Great Britain was at war with Germany in 1917 and the royal family was of German origin, King George V decided to change the family’s name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor. The proclamation was made on 17 July 1917.
Andrew’s behaviour has sullied the monarchy. It has placed a spotlight on the royal family in a way that questions its purpose. I don’t think there is a risk of the demise of the monarchy, but it is going to have to make changes.
There was a similar time when the monarchy was embroiled in such scandal that its existence was threatened. That was 1992, the Queen’s annus horribilis. The separations of Andrew and Sarah and Charles and Diana in the wake of appalling revelations, cast the monarchy in a truly bad light. At the time Uranus and Neptune were occupying the same part of the zodiac. They did not conjoin exactly until 2 February 1993 but they were in close orb throughout 1992, and in wide orb from 1989-1998.
Uranus, the anarchist and Neptune the unfathomable, are an odd couple. While this cycle has much to do with brave new worlds, part of the power of monarchy lies in its mystique, and a certain untouchability. When its members turn out to be all too human, if not seriously flawed, that golden aura turns to tin.
Thirty-two years on and Uranus and Neptune are making their first major aspect with each other, so we expect a reference to the period when they were conjunct. And here we have it. The Andrew problem is turning out to be King Charles’ annus horribilis, and I fear there is more to come. The solar eclipse on 21 September at 29 degrees of Virgo, opposing Neptune and Saturn was squaring the House of Windsor’s natal Moon.
Trouble ‘t mill indeed.