Astrolutely Fabulous! | established in 2000

Since this article was first published in February 2017, Prince Harry and Meghan have married, Prince Philip retired from public life, Donald Trump met with Kim Jong Un and the crisis regarding Russian interference with the 2016 US election deepens by the day. Rumours of impeachment grow ever stronger.

ON 18 AUGUST 2016, THE FIRST ECLIPSE in a series of eclipses on the Leo-Aquarius axis took place. And there will be three more in 2017, four in 2018 and one in 2019. All these eclipses fall on key points and planetary bodies in the charts of senior members of the Royal Family.

Leo is, of course, the royal sign of the zodiac, which is one reason why these eclipses should have an effect on royal families in general and Great Britain’s in particular. While eclipses can portend great and good events – another royal wedding, perhaps, another new prince or princess, maybe – more often they signal upsets.

We are thus looking at a two-year period in which there could be controversial events affecting the royal family, and huge changes in the structure of the monarchy and the roles various senior members play.

I’ll try to keep this simple. First, the dates and degrees of the eclipses.

  • 2016

18 August: lunar eclipse (penumbral) at 25° Aquarius 52

  • 2017

11 February: lunar eclipse (penumbral) at 22° Leo 28

7 August: lunar eclipse (partial) at 15° Aquarius 25

21 August: solar (total) at 28°Leo 53

  • 2018

31 January: lunar eclipse (total) at 11°Leo 37

15 February: solar eclipse (partial) at 27°Aquarius 08

27 July: lunar eclipse (total) at 4° Aquarius 45

11 August: solar eclipse (partial) at 18° Leo 42

  • 2019

21 January: lunar eclipse (total) at 0°Leo 52

Now the natal charts of senior members of the royal family, and the degree areas common to all: 0°- 6° and 22° – 28°of the Fixed signs – Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius.

  • 0° – 6°

Queen Elizabeth’s Sun 0° Taurus 12

Prince Charles’ Moon 0° Taurus 26

Prince William’s Jupiter 0° Scorpio 29

Prince William’s Mid-heaven 2° Scorpio 28

Princess Anne’s Mars 2° Scorpio 53

Prince Edward’s Venus 3° Taurus 46

Prince Charles’ nodal axis 3° Taurus/Scorpio 56

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall’s Ascendant 4° Leo 54

Prince Charles’ Ascendant 5° Leo 23

Prince Philip’s Venus 5° Taurus 43

Princess Kate’s Mercury 5° Aquarius 56

  • 22° – 26°

The Queen’s Neptune 22° Leo 02

Princess Anne’s Sun 22° Leo 02

Prince Philip’s Moon 22° Leo 15

Prince Charles’ Sun 22° Scorpio 25

The Queen’s Jupiter 22° Aquarius 31

The Queen’s Saturn 24° Scorpio 27

The Queen’s Mid-heaven 25° Scorpio 33

Prince Andrew’s Moon 25° Scorpio 29

Prince William’s Venus 25° Taurus 40

OF ALL THESE ECLIPSES ON THE LEO-AQUARIUS AXIS the most important is the total solar eclipse of 21 August, 2017. This has been dubbed The Great American Eclipse, since its path covers only mainland America. You have to go back to 1257 to find another.

I’ll come to America shortly; for now I’m going to focus on Britain’s Royal Family.

AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE ABOVE LISTS, all the eclipses in the 2016-2019 cycle hit the Royal Family’s charts, so events of singular importance can be anticipated during these next two years. In order to speculate on what these events might be we need to take a journey into the past.

1)1936 was a huge year for the monarchy. On 20 January, King George V died leaving the throne to his eldest son, Edward, Prince of Wales. On 11 December the same year, Edward abdicated citing his need and desire to marry Wallis Simpson, a twice divorced American commoner. The crown passed to his younger brother, George VI.

King Edward abdicated the throne two days before a solar eclipse at 21° 49 Sagittarius.

Six months prior to George V’s death a solar eclipse took place at 6° Leo – the King’s natal Mars – and at the time of his death in the January of 1936, Uranus, the planet of sudden and unexpected change, was placed at 1° 35 Taurus.

These degrees continue to be relevant in the charts of the Royal Family today.
2) 1952 was a similarly profound year for the monarchy. On 6 February, George VI died, five days before a lunar eclipse at 21°14 Leo – an eclipse that squared his natal Moon-Uranus conjunction in Scorpio. On the day of his death, transiting Mars was to be found at 7° Leo (the King’s Mid-heaven) and Pluto placed at 20° Scorpio.

Degrees once again relevant to the present Royal Family.

3) George VI was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Elizabeth – our Queen – who was crowned on 2 June 1953, a few weeks before a total lunar eclipse at 3° 12 Leo-Aquarius, squaring her radical Sun.

4) Queen Elizabeth described 1992 as her annus horribilis. It was a year that began in a blaze of scandal over the separation of the Duke and Duchess of York and ended with the separation of Diana and Charles; and along the way a blaze decimated part of Windsor Castle.

While the eclipses of 1992 may not have fallen on the royal Leo-Aquarius axis, Pluto spent much of the year floating between 20° and 23° Scorpio – those important degrees of the Fixed signs common to all the senior Royals. And just to press home the point, on 9 December, the day Diana’s and Charles’ separation was announced, there was a total lunar eclipse at 18° 10 Sagittarius-Gemini. This eclipse fell within 2 degrees of the solar eclipse that marked Edward VIII’s abdication.

5) The 31st August, 1997 will remain etched in many minds since it was the day Diana, Princess of Wales died. She died 44 hours before a solar eclipse at 9° 14 Virgo, some three degrees away from her natal Sun-Pluto conjunction. She passed away as transiting Neptune conjoined her natal Saturn and IC – the point of endings and beginnings – while natal Saturn conjoined her Ascendant.

THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE DEATH of The Princess of Wales continue to be a source of controversy. We need not go into all the details of the fatal crash in the Alma Tunnel in the early hours of Sunday, 31 August, nor the events that led up to it; suffice to say, Mohammed al Fayed, Dodi’s father, spent years endeavouring to prove the crash was an assassination carried out by MI6 on the instructions of members of the establishment.

It is clear, if you, like me, take the time to go through the various witness statements about the crash, the enquiry into her death was bungled at best and deliberately impeded at worst. It took two years for the French Judicial Enquiry to conclude that the driver, Henri Paul, lost control while intoxicated at the wheel of the Mercedes. The members of the paparazzi, formerly believed to have caused the accident by forcing the Mercedes in the tunnel at high speed, were exonerated.

The enquiry concluded on 3 September, 1999 some four weeks after a total solar eclipse at 18° 21 Leo.

This solar eclipse was not only significant from a historical and astronomical perspective – it was the last great eclipse of the 20th Century – but it formed the key component of an alignment known as a Grand Cross. The Sun and Moon at 18°21 Leo opposed Uranus in Aquarius and squared a Saturn-Mars opposition on the Taurus-Scorpio axis.

The signature of this formidable eclipse was therefore on the conclusion of the French enquiry into the deaths of Diana and Dodi. And it may have a long reach.

THERE IS A DIRECT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE total solar eclipse of August 1999 and the total solar eclipse of 21 August, 2017. They belong to Saros cycle 145; in fact, they are next to each other in a sequence of eclipses that began on 4 January, 1649.

As it happens, January 1649 was one of the most significant months in British history: Charles 1 was executed, the monarchy abolished and a republic established under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell.

August 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death. There are special occasions planned to commemorate the anniversary, and recently William and Harry announced the creation of a statue to be placed at Kensington Palace later this year, in addition to a memorial garden which is to be filled with white roses, narcissi and a carpet of forget-me-nots.

What we can also anticipate is a flood of articles, books and documentaries about her life and death. And the chances are someone will be revealing sensational aspects of the accident in the Alma Tunnel or other information regarding Diana that has been covered up – details that would send a tsunami through the House of Windsor.

As we can see from the past, eclipses occurring six months before major events carve their imprints on those events. So, both the eclipse of last August and that of 11 February, 2017 are likely to be precursors to events of great significance.

THERE ARE SOME INTRIGUING resonances between Diana’s chart and the eclipses of September 1997, August, 1999 and 21 August, 2017.

1) At the conclusion of the enquiry into her death in September 1999, the preceding total solar eclipse closely opposed her Moon; Venus in Virgo was near the degree of the solar eclipse that marked her death in 1997, therefore similarly triggering her natal Mars-Pluto conjunction; and for good measure transiting Pluto was square this same natal conjunction. Last but not least, the Ascendant-descendant axis of the 1999 Great Eclipse chart was within three degrees of her natal Ascendant-Descendant axis.

2) The forthcoming total solar eclipse takes place at 28° 50 of Leo – Diana’s north node – and nudges her Moon-Uranus opposition. (The nodal axis is the point at which eclipses occur, so connections to this axis in a natal chart tend to symbolize fateful developments.) Mercury on the 21 August 2017 will be on the degree of the solar eclipse that followed Diana’s death – an eclipse that fell on her natal Mars-Pluto conjunction.

If we examine the chart of the 21 August eclipse from the standpoint of London, we find 17° Capricorn rising with Pluto bang on that ascending point. A portent of transformational events indeed. The Mid-heaven of this chart at 22° Scorpio is in that degree area of great relevance to the Royal Family, as is the Ascendant-Descendant axis and Pluto which pick up the Queen’s natal Ascendant-Descendant axis, Great Britain’s Mercury and the UK’s Moon in the 10th house of government and leadership.

The combination of the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death, this potent eclipse and all the celestial echoes to her natal chart lead me to believe revelations concerning her life and death are set to emerge, probably any day.

ASIDE FROM REVELATIONS OVER THE DEATH OF DIANA, we might also speculate that with the Duke of Edinburgh now in his 96th year of life and the Queen in her 91st changes in the running of the Family firm are inevitable. While Her Majesty has vowed never to abdicate – she believes her duty to the people and to God is a lifetime’s commitment – age and illness may force her hand.

In February 2018 at the time of the solar eclipse at 27° 08 Aquarius (a mirror image of August 2017’s solar eclipse) Jupiter will be in the early 20 degrees of Scorpio, and by May Uranus will reach 0° Taurus. On the one hand, when you consider these transits in the charts of the Queen and Prince Charles, you can see cause for jubilation yet also crisis and upset.

At this point in time, all seems well in the ranks of the Royal Family. A minor illness kept the Queen from her duties earlier in the year, Prince Harry and his Meghan are quietly going about their business, and Charles has recently published a small book on climate change. Hardly the stuff of eclipses. But then we are not privy to the goings-on behind royal walls. And already page-proofs of books, articles and documentaries could be the subject of intense discussion and contingency-planning around the royal dinner table.

And then, of course there is the state visit of President Trump.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP HAS THE GREAT AMERICAN ECLIPSE of 21 August 2017 all over his natal chart. Well, that is an exaggeration, but it falls precisely on his Ascendant-Descendant axis and his rising Mars. Thus, we know that the events signalled by this eclipse are going to affect him in a personal way: they are going to reflect on his image and his position.

This eclipse could, of course, coincide with his state visit to the United Kingdom, which is already a hugely contentious issue. And it would explain why the Royal Family’s charts are simultaneously in such a state of uproar.

Even though August may not be a convenient time for such a state visit – the Royal Family traditionally spend the month in Balmoral – mid-September, just before all the Party conferences and while members of parliament are away from Westminster, might be perfect.

While the 21 August 2017 eclipse could inspire yet another provocative move on Trump’s part which sends reverberations around the world, this eclipse also happens to fall on the Moon in the US (Sibly chart) so, the events inspired by this eclipse will have a direct effect on the American people too.

It is just possible that if late August or early-to-mid-September turns out to be the time of the state visit, some of the protests that are becoming an all too familiar occurrence will take a more radical turn, the results of which could be embarrassing at best for both countries and disastrous at worst.

I spent the whole of my previous newsletter examining Trump’s chart and the potential for an abbreviated term as President, and this total solar eclipse of August is one of several candidates that might prove the undoing of Donald Trump, whether we are looking at cause for impeachment or some kind of life-threatening incident.

THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE THAT SAROS CYCLE 145 has much to do with monarchy, leadership and ends of eras. It began, of course, with the execution of Charles I and the abolition of the monarchy, which may well have set the tone for the series. The eclipse of 21 August, 2017 will be number 22 in this cycle and the solar eclipse of August 1999 the 21st. Preceding that, the solar eclipse of 31st July, 1981 (number 20 in the series) occurred two days after the wedding of Charles and Diana; and, before that, the total solar eclipse of 20 July (number 20) was the precursor to the assassination of President Kennedy. In fact, this eclipse fell precisely on JFK’s natal Saturn and exactly in opposition the US Pluto.

As you know, I don’t have a crystal ball in which I can see events played out before me in misty sequence, I simply look at the configurations to come and, with a little help from history and experience, form an opinion.

And it is my opinion that the Royal Family and Donald Trump are in for a tumultuous ride