The Harry Meghan show is turning into a slow-motion car-crash which couldn’t be less relevant in these challenging and tragic times. But they seem incapable of staying out of the headlines even if only to announce in the crassest way possible that they intend to block out a chunk of the UK’s most popular newspapers. Picking a fight with the Mail, Mirror, Sun and Express, is not only tone-deaf in the midst of the coronavirus crisis; it’s also bone-headed and counter-productive, unless they intend to disappear down a bunker and stay there. Which they show no intention of doing and indeed couldn’t finance their wannabe-glitzy LA lifestyle by being invisible.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge managed to cope with the wilder excesses of the tabloids, only firing the occasional shot across the bows, and stuck firmly to the ‘don’t complain, don’t explain’ approach even when her family was being dragged into the headlines.

Harry is, by all accounts, not the sharpest tool in the box which you can’t see from his astrology, but his chart certainly indicates an inflammatory and reckless temperament, prone to outbursts, and with his Sun square Neptune, not always too realistic. Add that onto an intense 8^th house Sun and an obsessive Saturn (and Pluto) in Scorpio, he’s clearly not one to let go once he gets onto a train of thought, however muddle-headed. His hatred of the media is mainly because of his mother Princess Diana’s death which he attributes entirely to the paparazzi, but doesn’t take on board the part she played in stoking up publicity and indeed in deliberately staying in exposed locations. But there’s also an element of irritation at them poking their cameras into his Nazi-costume party years ago and naked billiards etc. He seems/seemed to want it all – the money and the privilege without the duty and exposure.

The Murdoch-owned Sun, whom he’s suing for phone hacking, appears to be top of his hate list. Founded 15 September 1964, it has its Virgo Sun exactly on his; with their Uranus Pluto square his Mars Uranus; their Neptune conjunct his Saturn Midheaven and their Mars square his Pluto – all adding up to visceral dislike. The relationship chart has a hostile composite Mars Pluto square Saturn. It will be under serious pressure in 2021/22 with a disruptive tr Pluto square Uranus and tr Neptune opposition the Sun.

The Mirror, 2 November 1903, is similarly a mismatch with its Pluto opposition Mars Uranus in Sagittarius colliding with his Virgo Sun and its Saturn square his Pluto. That relationship chart with its Mars Saturn trine Pluto will be moving into deep swamp come 2021/22 as well.

The Daily Express, 24 April 1900, with Venus, Neptune Pluto in Gemini bouncing off Harry’s Virgo Sun and Sagittarius Mars Uranus, is a crotchety and at cross purposes connection. The relationship chart indicates trouble ahead there through 2021/23.

The Daily Mail, 4 May 1896, isn’t great with him since their Mars in Pisces square Pluto Neptune in Gemini hit his Sun and Uranus Mars. There will be ups and downs and hassles this year and in 2021 to 23.

Other minor European Royals stay off the radar by living quiet lives and doing occasional charity work. But if you’re trying to set up a Bill Gates/Oprah Winfrey/Obama-sized philanthropic project with a movie career for Meg, it’s lunacy to rile the media. There will be payback. There is recourse for egregious breaches of editorial conduct but getting prickly over every minor infraction and indeed wailing a Trumpian ‘I can only tolerate good publicity’ chorus is plain not going to work, indeed will only make matters worse.

Peter Beard, ‘the last of the adventurers’ and ‘great white hunters’ — a socialite, artist, photographer, naturalist, Lothario, prophet, playboy and fan of recreational drugs has died. He disappeared almost three weeks ago suffering from dementia and the after effects of a stroke and was found dead, where he was most comfortable out in nature near his Long Island home.

He was best known for his death-defying photographs of African wildlife, especially elephants. The New York Times obituary says: “Even by the dashing standards of wildlife photography, his résumé was the stuff of high drama, full of daring, danger, romance and tall tales, many of them actually true. Had Mr. Beard not already existed, he might well have been the result of a collaborative brain wave by Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Paul Bowles.”

Born on 22 January 1938, he was heir to both a railway and a tobacco fortune, but opted out to follow in Karen von Blixen’s footsteps in Kenya. With his matinee-idol good looks he was a relentless womaniser, romantically involved with, amongst many others, Candice Bergen and Lee Radziwill and married briefly to super model Cheryl Tiegs. He didn’t stint himself and partied voraciously until well into old age. His long-suffering third wife separated from him but returned after he nearly died having been gored by an elephant.

He was a charming and sociable Sun Jupiter in Aquarius conjunct Venus in final degree Capricorn, all in an intense opposition to Pluto, which would not only make him passionate but also convinced he could break rules and not be harmed. His Sun and Jupiter were in a rebellious and adventurous square to Uranus in Taurus. His Mars in filmic Pisces was in a courageous but high-risk trine to Pluto, conjunct an accident-prone conjunction with Saturn, and in in a publicity-attracting opposition to Neptune. Those two major oppositions in his chart form a Mystic rectangle – not so much spiritual as tricky to balance. He clearly fired on all cylinders all the time, was addicted to adrenaline and ignored advice.

Often death doesn’t show up in a chart. But when he exited his Solar Arc Uranus was exactly opposition his Sun; his Solar Arc Mercury was conjunct his Saturn; and his Solar Arc Jupiter squared his Venus and Pluto. There’s something fitting about how he ‘chose’ to go.

Giraffe pic: Peter Beard

The Kennedy Curse – “a case of triumph and tragedy, great success and terrible suffering … In many ways it’s the American story.” A new Kennedy family biography, co-authored by crime-writer James Patterson, looks at the catastrophes and triumphs that have dogged their footsteps right up to the present day. “The lofty and tawdry live side by side, and the fascination never ends for a family that could aim so high and crash so hard, over and over.”

One quarter of the cousins have been treated for drug or alcohol abuse, well above the national average, and the accidental deaths and near misses are almost too numerous to list.

It seemed worthwhile to see if there were any family markers astrologically which linked the generations. The founding patriarch Patrick Joseph Kennedy, 14 January 1858, was the son of Irish immigrants who fled the famine. He had a last decan Capricorn Sun and Mercury opposition Saturn in Cancer. That late Capricorn/Cancer placing, along with Mars in Scorpio, can be traced down the family line. His son Joseph Kennedy, 6 September 1888, had his North Node in final degree Cancer and Mars in Scorpio. His wife Rose, 22 July 1890 had her Cancer Sun Mercury conjunct his North Node.

Down a generation JFK, 29 May 1917 3pm, had Saturn in late Cancer conjunct his Midheaven with a determined Mars in Taurus in his 8^th giving it a Scorpio tinge.

Robert Kennedy, 20 November 1925 15.11 pm, had a late Capricorn Moon conjunct Jupiter opposition a Cancer North Node; with Mars in Scorpio.

Edward Kennedy, 22 February 1932 3.58 am, had Saturn in last degree Capricorn widely opposition Pluto in Cancer.

The eldest son of that generation, Joseph, born 1915, killed in WW11, had a Capricorn Moon and Saturn Pluto Mercury Venus in Cancer. A sister Katherine who died in a 1948 plane crash had Mars in Scorpio. Rosemary, another sister who had a botched lobotomy also had Mars in Scorpio. Of the other siblings Jean has Venus Mars in last decan Capricorn; and Patricia had three planets in Cancer. Eunice has her Sun and three other planets in Cancer. John F Kennedy Jnr, also killed in a plane crash had three planets in Capricorn and one in Cancer.  Joseph 111, who is running for Senate this year,  has Mars in Scorpio.

Capricorn/Cancer and Mars in Scorpio it is. JFK was elected on a Jupiter Saturn in Capricorn and this latest death by drowning of Maeve Kennedy, Robert’s granddaughter, happened during the Saturn Pluto in Capricorn.

In mythology Capricorn is associated with Janus, the two-faced god, one looking back and one forward – also associated with Christ and the goat-god Lucifer. A sign of extreme opposites – the light and the shade, war and peace.

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An unlikely and inspiring hero has arisen out of the coronavirus panic. Captain Tom Moore, an army veteran, decided to raise £1000 ($1250) for health charities by completing 100 laps of his garden on his walking frame before his 100^th birthday on April 30. So far his crowd funding has raised £21 million ($26.25m). He’s finished walking and is now doing global media interviews.

Born 30 April 1920 in Keighley, England into a family of builders, he served in WW11 in India and Burma. After the war he became managing director of a concrete firm and raced motorcycles.

He’s a stalwart Sun Taurus in a confident and super-optimistic square to Neptune Jupiter in Leo, and his Sun is also on the focal point of an innovative mini-Grand Trine to Uranus trine Pluto, with his Uranus opposition Saturn in Virgo. Plus a passionately enthusiastic Venus in Aries opposition Mars in Libra.

Tr Uranus has been sparking off his natal Uranus, Pluto and Saturn very recently; and tr Uranus will, within weeks, square his Neptune Jupiter and conjunct his Sun – all of which would prompt him to take the initiative. His Jupiter Neptune conjunction which can be head-in-the-clouds but has an aura about it, has moved by Solar Arc to within less than a degree of a conjunction with his intense Scorpio North Node with his Solar Arc Sun exactly square. A Scorpio North Node isn’t the easiest of placings but it does give a drive for success at all costs. Which in an odd way his contribution has become, even if it wasn’t quite on the scale he intended.

Add on:  I’m constantly struck by the number of war veterans who lived through horrendous hardship and survived to a ripe old age.

Thomas Hermiston has just died at 103, who grew up mainly in care after his mother died, went into the army and served in WW11 in the Chindits behind enemy lines in Japanese territory.

His obituary says: ‘Living in some of the world’s most challenging terrain, the unconventional band operated in jungle and hill country, in extreme humidity and temperatures of more than 100F. Relying solely on air-dropped rations, they often went days without food. In monsoon season the incessant rain rotted their clothes and many perished from malaria and scrub typhus. To make matters even more arduous they each carried upwards of 80lbs of possessions and weapons on their back – half their own bodyweight – and slept in the open where they could. They shed stones within weeks and by the time they left the battlefield were walking shadows of their former selves. Almost all were hospitalised and most suffered Chindit Syndrome – a combination of two or three conditions such as malaria, dysentry and septic jungle sores which stood no chance of healing in the humidity. Few could stomach solid food.’ After the war he became a PT teacher.

He was born 23 September 1916 in Edinburgh and apart from his Libra/Virgo Sun square Pluto, had chart similarities to Tom Moore – Jupiter in Taurus opposition Mars in Scorpio square Neptune in Leo; with Mars trine Pluto. Optimism and determination and surprisingly strong Neptunes.

His wife died 30 years ago and by choice he lived alone at home until he died.

China along with everywhere else is experiencing economic pain of unprecedented levels because of the virus. Though indications are it may fare marginally better than some countries.

The 1 October 1949 3.15pm chart is surprisingly light on information, apart from the restrictive Saturn Pluto conjunction bearing down on the 12^th house Jupiter till late year. There will be aggravation from 2021 to 2023 with tr Uranus square the 7^th house Mars, then Pluto and opposition the Venus – which could be trouble with neighbours as well as finances from Venus.

The 1 January 1912 Republic chart is more informative with a devastating tr Pluto opposition Neptune and in a high-risk and frustrating trine to Mars this year, extending into 2021. With the Solar Arc Sun conjunct the North Node and in a ‘shock’ square to the Uranus this year. 2022 looks especially stressed and unstable with tr Pluto conjunct the Uranus and a Solar Arc Neptune opposition Saturn – though that could also coincide with a massive natural disaster. Uranus Neptune on this chart is prone to earthquakes. Tr Pluto is in the turbulent, revolutionary conjunction to the China 1912 Uranus through 2023 as well. It’s likely to be a challenging and critical time for China.

Xi Jinping first took over as President on 14 March 2013 at 11.51 am which was when a Jupiterian Yod was in place inconjunct Saturn sextile Pluto – hinting at grandiose plans ahead, rooted in repression from Saturn Pluto. That chart hints at ructions in 2021 with tr Uranus opposition Saturn, on one leg of the Yod, as well as an undermining tr Neptune conjunct the Term Sun. Similarly uncertain influences will affect his 2^nd Term chart, 24 October 2017 12.30 pm with tr Saturn square the Sun, Jupiter and Mercury over coming months into 2021; at the same time as a panicky and uncertain tr Neptune square Moon and Saturn in 2020/21. And major upheaval from tr Pluto square the Uranus in 2021/22.

His own chart, 15 June 1953, has parallel influences with his Gemini Sun catching the tr Neptune square in 2021; and his Solar Arc Uranus squaring his Sun in 2022 for a major jolt.

No country is going to escape the post-virus trauma.

Princess Basmah, a senior Saudi royal, granddaughter of the founding monarch, has revealed she is being held in prison and in urgent need of medical care. She says she has been detained since last March without charge in Riyadh with one of her daughters, with no explanations for their arrests, despite repeated pleas to her uncle King Salman. She had been a frequent advocate of reform in the kingdom, including a change to a constitutional monarchy, and improvement in women’s rights and humanitarian rights.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the arrest fitted a clear pattern of dissenters being ruthlessly silenced by Prince Mohammed. “Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s rampant repression of all forms of critics, including people he can extort money out of, the space for dissent has shrunk greatly,” said a senior women’s rights researcher at HRW. “This is particularly the case for women, many of whom have been silenced, imprisoned, or are in exile right now.”

Basmah Bint Al Saud was born on 1 March 1964 in Riyadh, the 115th and youngest of King Saud’s children, during the final months of her father’s reign, as he was overthrown in a palace coup. Her mother took her to Beirut but had to flee, when she was 11, to the UK when civil war broke out. She was educated in Britain, Beirut and the USA, married a Saudi and had five children.

She has a stark chart with a Sun Mars in Pisces opposition Uranus Pluto in Virgo – so acclimatised to danger and frustratingly trapped circumstances. Her Sun (Mars) are in a Water Grand Trine to Neptune and a North Node in Cancer which has a potential to be a healing force.

Her relationship chart with her cousin MbS, the power-hungry Crown Prince, is conflicted and undermining with an argumentative composite Sun Mars in a hostile trine to Pluto, an evasive, unsupportive opposition to Neptune with a resentful Saturn square Pluto.

There’s nothing much on her chart (without birth time) to suggest good news anytime soon.

Her unhappy plight is unlikely to make much of a dent on the Jared/Trump/MbS bro-romance. But there are signs of a pulling-away this year from the present White House incumbents. With the Jared/MBS bond being seriously tested by events in May/June and beyond. And Trump who was less than enamoured over the oil debacle isn’t looking too pleased with MbS or vice versa either as the year proceeds.

The West may have its drawbacks but looking at countries like Saudi Arabia is like stepping into a horror episode of Game of Thrones.

Trump’s latest distract-and-divert blame-game has landed on the World Health Organisation, as he proclaims he intends to stop funding after a 90-day review. This despite the fact that the WHO was warning about the virus from late January. Bill Gates said: “Halting funding during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds.” But it had the required effect of grabbing the headlines.

The US is the global health body’s largest single funder, giving more than $400m in 2019. There are legitimate grounds for criticism of the WHO but it has been more on the ball this time round than many governments, particularly the USA.

The constitution was signed on 22 July 1946 at 3.l30 pm in New York and it began on 7 April 1948.

Both charts sit uneasily with Trump’s. The 1946 is close to his own though the Mars is in Virgo and squares his Uranus Sun and Moon for an irritable chemistry. The 1948 chart is worse with the Pluto Saturn Mars in Leo aligned with his vengeful and bombastic, grandiose Mars; and the WHO Uranus in Gemini colliding with his Sun and Moon.

The 1946 chart has the panicky-failure tr Neptune opposition Mars and square Uranus this month extending on and off into 2021; with a major turbulence in 2021 from tr Uranus square the Pluto. The 1948 chart has an upsetting Solar Arc square the financial Venus exactly now and the disruptive tr Uranus square Pluto in 2021.

Trump has been warned that his severing ties with international organisations only makes it more likely that China will step into the vacuum and gain in power and influence.

Apocalyptic comparisons have been made by the UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the event of the lockdown continuing into the summer. The worst economic hit for 300 years, he cheerily intoned, since 1709. That was the year of the ‘Great Frost’, the worst winter in 500 years, which lasted for three months, sparked food shortages, caused thousands of deaths especially in France, and a huge deficit to the economy. In London on the night of 5 January 1709 a temperature of minus 12 C (10 F) was recorded. The severe cold occurred during the time of low sunspot activity known as the Maunder Minimum. Almost all the rivers in the north and centre of Europe froze, roads were blocked and many cities including Paris were cut off from supplies for months.

The Great Frost occurred when Uranus and Pluto were conjunct in Leo trine Neptune and sextile Saturn in Gemini. Uranus Pluto is disruptive; add Neptune for devastation and confusion and Saturn for hardship and it was not a fun time.

The England 11 May 973 AD chart shows up the devastating effects clearly as tr Pluto made its Return (a once-in-250- year occurrence). Not only was tr Pluto conjunct the natal Pluto with tr Uranus not far behind, both were also in square to the England Sun Mars in Taurus – so it was a considerable catastrophe. The England Saturn was also on a Return; and the Solar Arc Saturn was exactly square the North Node. A perfect storm.

Although France was most affected. The 10 August 843 AD chart has a last decan Leo Sun which also caught the tr Uranus conjunction; with tr Neptune square the Saturn and conjunct the France Uranus for extreme agitation.

There are no astro-similarities at the moment, though the economic hit is likely to roll on for several years, which the money-men are only beginning to grasp. The over-optimistic hoped for a V shaped dip, but the fall out is likely to drag on for several years, until mid decade. The UK, EU as well as Russia will have their multiple Fixed planets under assault from tr Uranus hard aspects until it moves into Gemini; and the USA is heading for its first Pluto Return.

Fame-hungry reality stars with criminal convictions are meat and drink to TV producers. Following Tiger King, there’s a Brit scaled-down version in Quiz, a dramatized version now airing of one of the biggest gameshow scandals in history. Charles Ingram, a former army major and his wife, were accused of cheating in Who Wants to be a Millionaire? in 2001 with a million prize at stake. They were given suspended prison sentences and subsequently went on to appear in other reality shows. They are some who still claim the ‘coughing’ major is innocent. Two years later he was convicted of a separate and unrelated insurance fraud, having had a history as a habitual claimant over alleged loss of personal possessions.

Born 6 August 1963 he has a needs-attention Leo Sun and Venus with his Sun opposition Saturn and square to Neptune, as well as trine Jupiter in pro-active Aries and sextile Mars in Libra. A focal point Neptune will be – at the very least –detached from reality, can be delusional, and at worst will be slippery and evasive.

When the offence occurred in 2001 his Solar Arc Mars had moved to exactly conjunct his Neptune; and tr Neptune was opposition his Venus and trine his Mars exactly. Tr Pluto was also trine his Sun and was about to run into the catastrophic conjunction to his Mars/Saturn midpoint.

The happy couple are revelling evidently in this new found spotlight, despite it focussing on their guilt.