Prince Edward, the new Duke of Edinburgh, has been heaped with praise as he sails through his sixtieth birthday – by his wife in a heartfelt tribute as well as admirers who point to his hardworking Royal schedule of engagements and unassuming manner.
The youngest of Queen Elizabeth’s children and like Andrew blessed with more attention from his mother in early childhood than the older two, his first love was the theatre and television though that ended badly as did his short-lived military career. His marriage to public relations expert Sophie Wessex surprised many and tripped through a few scandals before settling into a lower key charity-focused existence. His closeness to Prince Philip, his father, seemed surprising early on but as he has aged he looks physically more like him and has taken on the mantle of the Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme.
Born 10 March 1964 8.20pm London, he has a hard-working Pisces Sun in his 6th house conjunct Mars in Pisces in his entertaining 5th which was in part no doubt what attracted him to showbusiness. His Saturn in Aquarius is also in his 5th suggesting an interest in the organisational side of the entertainment business. Like Andrew he has a 4th house Sun, though in his case in Aquarius as opposed to Andrew’s Scorpio – but the house placing does suggest a strong emotional attachment to family and roots. His Mars Mercury opposition Uranus Pluto in Virgo hints at a rebellious streak was perhaps behind his early missteps. But with an enthusiastic Jupiter in Aries and Venus in Taurus in his 7th he has overcome criticism to settle into a steadier lifestyle.
He shares his Venus in Taurus with his father and both have a Mutable Sun Mars conjunction so there would have been an understanding between them.
His wife Sophie is generally assumed to be the driving force in their marriage. “She wears the trousers,” says one who has visited them. “He makes the tea.” His 7th house Venus and Jupiter would be a help in attracting a supportive and affectionate partner. Though his Sun/Moon midpoint conjunct his Saturn would suggest it would require hard work to make it work, with duty taking precedence.
Sophie was born 20 January 1965 maybe 12.46pm, Oxford, giving her a zero degree Aquarius Sun with a complicated stellium in Virgo of Moon, Uranus, Pluto conjunct and opposition Saturn and trine Jupiter, with a hard working Mars also in Virgo.
Her Aquarius Sun and Virgo Moon linking across to his Pisces Sun and Aquarius Moon give a sense of a fairly emotionally detached connection. Their relationship chart has the hallmarks of a good working relationship with the composite Saturn conjunct the Sun and Venus; with a dash of attraction from Venus Pluto but also a need for constant changes and space with Venus Uranus – and some irritations about the power imbalance with a Mars square Pluto.
The charts of their two children – Louise and James – both have hard Sun Moon aspects hinting at parents of entirely different temperaments. Louise has a 10th house Taurus Sun opposition a Scorpio Moon square Neptune. James has a Pisces Moon square is Sagittarius Sun.
Edward’s relationship with his two much older siblings don’t suggest much closeness. Charles, born 16 years before, has a peculiarly tricky relationship chart with him – a composite Mars opposition Uranus square Neptune which at the best of times will be edgy and uncertain. And since the Coronation it has been confused; and hotting up for high tensions in 2025/26 with tr Pluto hard aspects to Mars and Uranus. Which suggests either a few disruptions in private or external events bearing down on their relationship. Edward’s Solar Return from birthday 2025 for a year after does look highly stressed.
Andrew he is pulling away from noticeably this year, more so next.
Interesting Edward and Sophie synastry analysis, Marjorie. Appearances vs reality. Hmm.
C’mon people, it’s surely a recently taken, genuine photo of Kate and the kids – right down to her unpolished finger nails. Kate usually wears nail varnish. Photo shows her in ‘convalescing mode’ complete with baggy jumper, chair to rest on, and absence of nail polish. Not sure she edited it herself though, or that William took it. But she is probably keeping quiet about the exact nature of the medical matter as perhaps it’s ’embarrassing’ and might take away from her mystique.
All I can think about Edward and Charles is that for some reason Edward irritates Charles no end. I don’t know, maybe Edward clears his throat all the time. It is usually something ridiculous that causes these rifts.
As for the mothering Sunday photo, it is said that it was done on Friday. I think too much is being made over the whole thing. It is not as though the press don’t do similar things all the time.
But what I am amazed about is her wearing those leggings or whatever they’re called. The last thing I wanted to wear after an operation was something tight. But that is just my personal preference.
@Linda, all that can be reduced from the timestamps is that the photo file was first downloaded to a Mac device on Friday. It could be older. Interestingly, Kate wore the same jeans, same boots and a similar sweater in a different colour for a charity event in November. If you zoom in, and look carefully, lighting on Kate’s sweater is very flat, something you’d get by painting the color in. George wore a very similar looking sweater with a white, checked shirt. George’s shirt is clearly touched up in the photo, for some reason, to be the same colour as the sweater. I did some sleuthing yesterday, and couldn’t retrieve a photo with neither of the royal boys wearing this kind of a combo. It’s usually navy sweater and white checked shirt or a light blue shirt for George, patterned knit and checked shirt for Louis.
So, in all likelihood, this photo was taken in November, and for some reason, they decided to alter it and not tell it’s not recent. The most innocuous and likely explanation is that Kate is still medicated with something causing bloating and feels self-conscious about it (she has obvious issues on that installed by her very vain mother also showing astrologically). But Kensington Palace’s and British media’s handling of the affair certainly doesn’t help in quieting some voices, especially since we know how they’ve behaved in previous occasions in which something serious has been up.
It is very strange for media to go after the royals so hard considering they are presented with a genuine reason for Catherine’s absence. I believed royals always shared a good understanding with media as when to pursue a story and when not to.
Is it possible that these journalists know more than what is presented to the world and it’s just them pushing the royals to come out with the truth. Even some Royal correspondents have been putting very cryptic tweets for past couple of months.
Does media usually go this hard over small issues if they are aware there isn’t more to the story? Just wondering.
Journalists usually know more than they are saying publicly. Sometimes for legal reasons or with the Royals in this case maybe for respect or fear of being frozen out in future.
But the whole thing is a complete horlicks. The men in grey suits would have handled it better had they been allowed to but I suspect any advice was brushed aside.
Hilary Rose:- “Teasing a mystery illness then clamming up is a nonsense strategy. Publishing a misleading photograph is frankly barmy. #katespiracy? What a mess.”
Simon Jenkins:- “The moral of Kate’s picture-editing debacle is simple: the royal family should tell all. The first rule of celebrity is that once you crank up the publicity machine, keeping secrets is out of the question.
The reality is that since the early years of Queen Elizabeth, the British royal family has validated itself through the medium of publicity. It did not follow most of Europe’s “cycling monarchies” into modesty and privacy. The Queen presented her monarchy in full historic majesty —– all involving serious money.
To the end of time, the institution of monarchy will depend on popular support. That is why its handling of the media is crucial. The iron law of celebrity states that there can be no such thing as privacy. There may be sympathy. There may be understanding. But there is no secrecy.
At this stage, privacy does not work. It breeds rumour, gossip and fabrication. When fake news and fake pictures are rampant, secrecy is the enemy of truth. Just say what the matter is. It is more likely to generate respect.”
I agree that it is from an earlier time. But it is for Mothering Sunday, something which she does every year.
And while I agree that they should have come clean about her condition: if for some reason that she has been put on steroids, it will show and make her look moonfaced. I have personal experience of that and photos of that period in my life, that remain buried in a cupboard somewhere. And that’s where they shall stay.
Children wear clothes more than once… They can wear something in Nov and re-wear it in Feb.
My guess is that Kate can’t sit up for long because of cut abdominal muscles. So after 5 minutes of William taking photos, she said “Enough, I need to lie down”.
But none of the photos were any good, so she sat in bed with Adobe photo editor and made a composite photo using the best bits of the photos William had taken.
Of course the staff didn’t comment, because would you criticise your very ill, very anxious Princess boss?
Poor Kate has Chiron in the 10th house and tr Uranus is conjunct it right now.
Katherine’s chart is currently being hammered by transit Chiron at the moment, which has not only been hovering between her Sun/Moon opposition over the past few months but also opposing her Mars/Saturn midpoint in Libra. Moreover, Chiron will square her Nodal axis as it continues its journey through Aries over the next year or so. Pluto meanwhile in Aquarius will be moving forward to join her Venus/Mercury, squaring her Midheaven/Nadir.
I personally think the Palace has handled this poorly. The rumours could be somewhat abated by releasing the original photo but have refused to do so. It all looks tough for Katherine right now. I hope she’ll be OK.
*Catherine. I can’t help noticing that Camilla appears to be taking on a considerable portion of the royal workload at the moment. Which is odd when William is almost half her age. Something is amiss.
Not surprised, only because my brother was born just days earlier, and is just as stable. Although Piscean, Neptune is in Scorpio, and trine Saturn, both in fixed signs. Venus in Taurus further increases the fixity and, in my brother’s case, has manifested itself in love of home, making things with his hands, and having ‘stuff’ in general.
It’s always interesting to see how two widely different persons born around the same time could be alike – or not. (Even more so if they were born on exactly the same day, or are identical twins)
Interesting reading considered the hot PR mess Royal Family has spiralled to recently, and given Sophie’s expertise in the area.
I’m not someone to entertain too many conspiracy theories, but the way Princess of Wales’ absence is handled gets weirder by the day, with Kensington Palace account publishing on obviously photoshopped “Mother’s Day Picture” news agencies refuse to publish, and then “C” apologizing for the picture. It now seems the pic could be from November, with some garment colour changes to hide the similarities (it appears Kate, George and Charlotte all wear clothing that’s very similar to a charity outing). The very least, it seems someone is using terribly much energy to cover up something relatively minor – for instance, Kate slightly heftier due to recovery and medication.
Also, can’t help drawing parallels to Norway, where King Harland is, once again, hospitalized, number of working royals have been reduced due to Märtha Louise’s life choices, and Crown Princess Mette Marit has longstanding health issues. Yet, there’s openness and transparency in communications.