Richard Branson is finding out the hard way that another coronavirus side effect is the visceral dislike of people whose businesses don’t pay UK taxes and then have the gall to expect to be baled out by taxpayer. He is looking for £500 million in government aid to help stricken Virgin Atlantic, rather than dipping into his £4billion fortune. Dragon’s Den Duncan Bannatyne and Simon Cowell have hit out at the mega-rich, like Victoria Beckham and Branson, for leaning on the state. Simon Cowell says he will continue to pay his staff.

Tom Bower, his unauthorised biographer, says ‘Branson must rank as the least deserving tycoon in the Treasury’s long list of casualties asking for financial help. He wants a loan from the same tax system he has spent his entire career avoiding.’

What Branson has been superb at is building a media brand image through countless business set-ups and a fair number of failures. One commentator wrote: ‘He is a salesman who breaks rules not out of any radical impulse but because he has always got away with it.” Another described him as a “chancer” and a ‘vacuum.’ He advocates ethical transparency and accountability despite the veil of tax-haven secrecy over his businesses; and campaigns for a fairer world, flying his private jet into climate change summits.

He was born 18 July 1950 7 am Blackheath, England, with an entrepreneur mother who told him he could become anything and a barrister father who paid for his first sexual experience with a prostitute, was dyslexic, apparently cheated at exams and left school at 16. He has a 12^th house Cancer Sun exactly conjunct the Fixed Star Procyon, which raises to great heights and can come crashing down, associated also with rashness and temper. His Sun squares an impulsive Mars in Libra conjunct a publicity-attracting Neptune. His secretive Pluto sits on his Leo Ascendant making him both an enigma and a showman. His Jupiter in Pisces is on the cusp of his 8^th house of business finances giving him luck and opposes his Moon, describing the indulgent mother; on the other side of his chart Saturn in Virgo in the 2^nd, makes him ‘careful’ about his personal finances.

If his birth time is right then his Solar Arc Midheaven and his Uranus will catch the mid year Solar and Lunar Eclipses for a crisis and forced change of direction.  Tr Saturn also opposes his Sun this year and squares his Midheaven. But even more significantly tr Pluto is aiming to oppose his Sun and square his Aries Midheaven in 2021/22 which will put him under tremendous pressure for change and could see a major dent in his reputation. Plus his Solar Arc Pluto is in a blocked square to his Sun in 2021. He’ll push bullishly ahead as he always does supported by a couple of Jupiter uplifts. But if anything his 2022 is worse with a severely jolting Solar Arc Uranus conjunct his financial Saturn; a car-crash Solar Arc Mars square Moon; and possibly a Solar Arc MC conjunct his Uranus.

It may be that the pay-no-tax Leviathans also become a casualty of the CV 19 bug – Amazon, Apple, etc etc never mind Branson. It’ll become a much more mainstream issue given the economic pain of the lockdown and health costs.

Victoria Beckham is the latest celebrity to fall foul of public outrage as she stands to rake in taxpayer money to support her loss-making fashion business in the CV lockdown. Staff have been put on furlough which allows her to reclaim 80% of their wages.

The Beckham’s conspicuous wealth, much of it flaunted on Instagram, includes a newly acquired £17 million Miami penthouse, a £25 million mansion in London and a £6 million barn conversion in the Cotswolds. Her handbag collection is reportedly worth £1.5 million; a recent birthday party for their son knocked them back £100k etc etc. Her fashion business, effectively a hobby, hasn’t made a profit since it opened in 2008, lost £12.3 million in 2018 and has been propped up by cash injections from her husband.

Maybe just maybe this is a coronavirus effect that will stick as the punters fall out of love with the crass 1 per centers with their private jets and their obscenely bloated lifestyles, which they display with “don’t you envy-me?” arrogant insensitivity to the downtrodden masses.

She was born 17 April 1974 with an unverified birth time of 10.07am in Hereford, England, and is a sparky Aries Sun opposition Uranus; with her Mercury in an intense opposition to Pluto; her Venus in a frivolous, superficial conjunction with Jupiter in Pisces; and a hard-edged Saturn Mars in Gemini, and an Aquarius Moon.

David, 2 May 1975 6.17 am London, is more practical with a Taurus Sun and Capricorn Moon and an emphasised Saturn on the point of a Cardinal T Square to Jupiter opposition Pluto.

Both of them look to be in for major changes in their lives from 2021 onwards. She has tr Pluto square her Sun and Uranus in 2021/22 which will bring a complete turnaround; with financial hopes sagging more than somewhat. Though she’ll get a lift when her Solar Arc Jupiter moves to oppose her Uranus and conjunct her Sun in 2022/23. That’s followed by a serious downer from tr Neptune square her Mars Saturn in 2024/25.

He’s also got upheavals from tr Uranus conjunct his Sun and an insecure and overly-excitable Solar Arc Mars opposing his Uranus in 2021. But he’ll be pushing ahead confidently nonetheless with tr Pluto square his Sun/Jupiter midpoint in 2021/22. Then tr Pluto squares his Uranus for more turbulence in 2023/24.

If his birth time is sound, then tr Neptune will conjunct his Sun/Moon midpoint from later this month through till early 2022, which suggests disappointments in close relationships and an undermining of bonds. There were reports of marital problems a while back. But this was always the year when there would be more aggravation with tr Uranus conjunct the composite Sun and Mars, on and off into 2021; with more instability in 2022/23 with tr Pluto square the composite Uranus.

It’s an affectionate relationship with a composite Sun Venus Mercury Mars and they’ve stuck it out through thick and thin and stormy patches before, so there’s no saying they will go their separate ways, but their lives do look in some turmoil for some years ahead.

Kim Jong Un, the tubby North Korean leader with a heavy smoking habit, is reportedly unwell after heart surgery. News out of North Korea is always difficult to confirm and both he and his sidekick sister Kim Yo Jong have conflicting birth years so the individual charts aren’t much use.

What is definite is his leadership chart of 29 December 2011 at 11.57 am P’yonggang, NK. That has run into a road block exactly now and in effect across the year with the Solar Arc Midheaven having moved to conjunct the control-freak Sun Pluto; as well as a panicky-failure tr Neptune opposition the Mars, which latter influence repeats till early 2021. There’e also tr Saturn just over the confidence-denting square to the Jupiter when he was supposedly in for surgery and that repeats later as well.

The North Korea country chart, 9 September 1948 5.27pm has tr Saturn just past the opposition to the 6^th house Venus at zero degrees Leo; with tr Uranus this year being in the insecure opposition to the Mars and about to conjunct the NK Taurus North Node, so a shake-up of the country’s destiny into early 2021. Plus tr Neptune square the NK Jupiter from later this month on and off till early 2022. This can either be financially undermining as false hopes implode or enthusiasm-denting for other reasons. The Solar Arc Venus is conjunct Neptune now which is again emotionally and/or financially troubled or both. With a discouraging Solar Arc Sun square Saturn late in 2021. 2022 will see major upheavals – with difficulty – from tr Uranus square the NK Pluto.

Although his sister has stepped up recently, the likelihood if he goes is that a more senior party member may take over.

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.