Turning a full-scale state visit into a sitcom takes some doing but trust Trump. Against protocol he’s bringing all of his children (except young Barron) – Don Jnr, Eric, Ivanka, even Tiffany, and their spouses. Arriving on Monday the bells-and-whistles entertainment begins with a ceremonial welcome, private lunch at Buckingham Palace, afternoon tea with the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall and a state banquet in the palace’s ballroom. Though the gilt coach up Pall Mall has been ditched because of security worries; and there will be no Westminster address as Obama had. Trump will host a dinner at the US ambassador’s residence at London’s Regent’s Park on Tuesday and on Wednesday will attend a ceremony in Portsmouth to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day. No doubt mouthing off contsnalty about Brexit, in breach of all diplomatic good manners.

The Queen will no doubt handle it all with her usual icy aplomb, since she has decades of experience hosting a string of hair-raising dictators; though the courtiers will be close at hand on full alert to circumvent mishaps.

Since Trump’s narcissism brooks no equals, he finds it difficult to accord the respect the Royals, who can be every bit as uppity, expect. The Queen isn’t arrogant but she has strong views on the sanctity of the monarchy and won’t be pushed aside. She certainly dislikes Trump with a composite Sun Mercury opposition Mars, sextile/trine both Saturn and Pluto in their relationship chart.

Prince William oddly enough dislikes Trump senior even more vehemently with a composite Mars Pluto and a high-tension Saturn Uranus. He’ll turn on the surface charm but underneath will seethe. Ditto Kate.

Prince Charles will turn on the bumbling charm though wish he were elsewhere.  Prince Andrew will be ratchety and ensure POTUS knows he’s rubbing shoulders with his betters – though they probably know each other from the past at Jeffrey Epstein’s villa. Their relationship is very much on edge this year and next.

William will no doubt be thrown together with Ivanka and Jared, being of ages – but there’ll be a distinct one-upmanship tussle going on there.  He needs space from Ivanka and is chilly about Jared.

Kate isn’t going to be upstaged by Ivanka for sure, with a composite Mars square Neptune and a Jupiter Pluto Venus square Saturn; and she’s none too keen on Jared either.

What fun – dynastic families at war. Teeth-gritted, saccharine smiles.

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The Liberal Democrats came second in the UK EU elections, following gains in local council elections and this week the Remainer centrist party topped a YouGov poll of Westminster voting intentions for the first time since 2010 – at 24%. The question is whether they can hold their new found momentum since they have a history as comeback kids who fade fairly rapidly.

Political party charts aren’t always too illuminating and I’m having a hard job seeing anything too uplifting on any of the possible charts – Lib Dems, Pisces, 3 March 1988; the earlier Lib-SDP Alliance. Gemini 16 June 1981; or even the old Liberal Party. Gemini 6 June 1859. There are flickers of Jupiter but nothing much holding. EU elections can be a protest vote which disappears at a General Election and polls can be misleading.

The two potential leaders – Jo Swinson, 5 February 1980 and Ed Davey, 25 December 1965 – to replace Vince Cable are equally not much help.

Jo Swinson, an Aquarius with a hard working Saturn in Virgo opposition Venus in Pisces and an exuberant Jupiter Mars in Virgo looks deflated from now and through 2020; with one lucky break from spring 2020 but that’s it.

Ed Davey, a Capricorn with Venus, Mars, maybe Moon in Aquarius, will get a boost July to this September but otherwise looks fairly swampy this year and next.

So not much the wiser.

John Cleese has had a Basil Fawlty moment or at least is presumed to have had given the over-reactive public mood, when he said London was no longer English. Truthfully, like most major cities it never was, being a melting pot of multifarious peoples. But it has caused the usual outraged flutters in the hen house.

He is prone to outbursts with his Mercury in intense Scorpio opposition a 9^th house Uranus; and tends to be explosive with his Uranus square an uncompromising Mars in Aquarius. His depressive (old grouch) Scorpio Sun opposition Saturn doesn’t help either.

His Mars square Uranus and indeed Venus in Scorpio all collide with the Fixed planets on the UK chart for a love/hate, fairly gritty interface; with his Pluto conjunct the UK’s 10^th house Jupiter so he likes to be in charge. This is reflected in the relationship chart with a friendly, easy-going composite Sun opposition Jupiter and an aggravated composite Mars square Saturn trine Uranus.

His life is undergoing major changes and disruption this year into next with tr Uranus opposing his Scorpio Sun and square his Pluto.

He decided last year to move away from the UK because of Brexit. From a July 12 2018 post:

John Cleese, the Monty Python comedian, appears to have lost his sense of humour about the UK and is baling out to live in the Caribbean. He said he had become disappointed over the “lying and triviality” of UK newspapers; and the standard of debate around Brexit which he was for. He always was a grump and has spent relatively little time in the country, so it’ll hardly make a difference.

Born 27 October 1939 3.15am Weston Super Mare, England, he has a Scorpio Sun square Pluto, which suited him for the role of uptight and bitter Basil in Fawlty Towers. His Mercury Venus also in obsessive Scorpio opposes Uranus and squares Mars in contrary Aquarius, which will give him a penchant for speaking sharply, getting volcanically angry and leading a complicated romantic life. His Aries Moon is conjunct Saturn in his 8^th with Saturn opposition a Libra North Node square Pluto – emotionally bleak.  Saturn squares his Sun/Moon midpoint so close relationships will always have been difficult for him – he’s now on his fourth marriage.

Tr Saturn and tr Pluto are both moving through his 4^th house of home and family so a move was likely. And with tr Uranus now opposition his Sun and square his Pluto for the next few months he will have the urge to cut the chains that bind and throw everything up in the air. Tr Pluto is also trine his Uranus – so upheavals all round.

Relocating his chart to the Caribbean puts Jupiter on his midheaven, so he’ll feel respected and admired there; with a fun-loving Venus Mercury in the 5^th. Though whether he’ll turn from being a tortured soul to a happy man is questionable.

His creative 7^th harmonic is strongly aspected – describing a seeking soul who needs peace, also a perfectionist; can be too sceptical, critical, sarcastic, cold, self-centred.

His 13^th harmonic is also notable, which was the case for Peter Sellers – genius and breaking with the orthodox. In Cleese’s case it has a malcontent Pluto as well as luck and talent.

Naomi Wolf, leader of the third wave of feminism and general controversialist, has stirred up another furore with her latest book about legal treatment of Victorian homosexuals. Her research was contradicted by an academic for assuming ‘death recorded’ after trials was the same as ‘execution’ since some subsequently had their sentences commuted; and also for not pointing out that some were convicted of offences against children which always carried heavier penalties.

She has aroused more criticism in recent years with scaremongering about the country being on the verge of martial law with government-led plots to establish a dictatorship. One journalist Max Fisher said the public needed “to understand the distinction between her earlier work, which rose on its merits, and her newer conspiracy theories, which are unhinged, damaging, and dangerous.” And under the headline “Naomi Wolf Went Off the Deep End Long Ago”, The American Spectator advised, “Her words must be taken not just with a grain of salt, but a full shaker’s worth.”

Born 12 November 1962 4.10 am San Francisco, California with an anthropologist mother and a gothic-horror scholar father, she is an intense Sun Venus Neptune and Mercury in Scorpio square a flamboyant Mars in Leo. She will come on very strong, will aim to attract attention and with her Mercury conjunct Neptune be at times a touch vague about facts. She’s also got a super-confident, over-push Jupiter opposition Pluto Uranus; an intense and secretive Taurus Moon in the 8^th. Her North Node in her career 10th is in the leadership sign Leo. Her chart is riddled with oppositions, perhaps one hint of why she attracts such polarised responses.

She’s taking it all very calmly and continuing merrily on her way without any obvious qualms. Though her publishers say they will correct certain statements in the book.

Add On: June 16 2019; The publishers have now pulled the book for further corrections and alterations much to her chagrin and against her objections.

At the moment she has a jolting, high-tension tr Uranus square her Saturn with tr Neptune in an undermining opposition to her Solar Arc midheaven and moving into her 6^th house of work for years ahead which is usually not ego boosting. Plus tr Saturn is opposition her natal midheaven.  She is exceptionally fixed and not afflicted with low self-esteem so no doubt she’ll bluster her way ahead. But she won’t but seeing any triumphs anytime soon.

Narendra Modi was sworn in for his second term as India’s prime minister at 7.04pm May 30 2019 in Delhi. This term has a marginally less well-placed Jupiter than the first. This time round it is in a financially over-hopeful and unrealistic hard aspect to Neptune; rather than the super-confident Jupiter Pluto Mars of the first term. Though it’s an arguably less violent chart as well which will help. But the deprived Saturn Pluto sits firmly in the 2^nd house of personal finances with a rumbling-discontent Mars in the 8^th house of business and international finances. Money will be a major bug bear.  There is a business-oriented Earth Grand Trine which might sound constructive but it contains the tough-struggle Saturn Pluto and all funnels through Neptune as the driving planet which is generally not helpful.  See post May 23^rd below.

Claus Von Bulow has died, who was at the centre of one of the most sensational trials of the 20^th Century, convicted, acquitted and retried of the attempted murder of his wife, the mega-wealthy heiress Sunny. She fell into a coma in December 1980 and lived for nearly 30 years thereafter in a vegetative state. At the retrial when he was defended by Alan Dershowitz, many witnesses from the first trial were discredited and it was shown that insulin could not have remained on the syringe that was found in his bag – thereby leaving the suspicion he’d been framed and he was cleared though many people remained doubtful of his innocence. It was made into the movie Reversal of Fortune with Jeremy Irons and Glenn Close.

  Sunny Von Bulow, 1 Sept 1931 7am Manassa, Virginia, inherited $100 million from her father when she was four years old and appears to have been fragile mentally in adult life despite her nickname. She had a 12^th house Sun, Venus, Neptune, Mercury in Virgo so would be highly strung with an addictive streak and  a stronger reaction to drugs than most with Neptune in the 12^h. She also had a crisis-ridden Cardinal Grand Square of Saturn opposition Pluto square Uranus Moon in Aries opposition Mars, so her life would never have been settled nor felt safe emotionally or any other way. It may have been life in a gilded cage but it was very tough and she would have been prone to depression.    

  Claus Von Bulow, her second husband, August 1926  1.40pm Copenhagen, Denmark, was an expansive, vague, arrogant Sun Neptune in Leo opposition Jupiter. He’d be charming with Venus Pluto conjunct in Cancer – and with Venus, Pluto, Mercury, Sun, Neptune in the 9^th he was bright, intelligent, trained as a barrister (9^th house) and handled administrative affairs for Paul Getty before his marriage. His Sun Neptune opposition Jupiter squares onto an obsessively determined and stubborn Saturn in Scorpio on his Ascendant.

  His 10^th house Virgo Moon and Midheaven would make him attracted to Sunny. Though his Mars falling in her 8th would stir up deep seated anger in her. Both were Neptunian types – unrealistic, evasive.

  When she went into the coma Claus Von Bulow’s Solar Arc Mars was exactly square his natal 4^th house Uranus causing great domestic upset in a shocking way.  The years which followed were more difficult with his SA Uranus squaring his Neptune Jupiter opposition and SA Saturn opposing his natal Pluto so it would be a roller coaster of lows with huge worries (Uranus Neptune, Saturn Pluto) and some highs with relief (Uranus Jupiter).  

  Claus Von Bulow later signed away his rights to Sunny’s estate in order to reinstate their daughter Cosima into her grandmother’s will from which she’d been removed for supporting her father. Sunny’s two children from her first marriage stuck to their original story that she was deliberately put into a coma, which wasn’t self administered.

Musician Moby has cancelled the book tour for his memoir after his claim of dating Nathalie Portman when she was 18 and he was in his thirties was disputed by her. She described him as a creepy old man at the time.

Born 11 September 1965 (same day as Bashar Assad, the  Syrian dictator) he had a fractured and sad childhood with his feather dead at two after a drunk driving crash, his mother poor and living in junkies’ squats some of the time and sexually abused by a daycarer. He’s a vegan and animal rights activist and has been fairly celibate for most of his adult life. His name comes from Moby Dick since Herman Melville is supposed to be an ancestor.

He’s a Sun, Pluto, Uranus in Virgo opposition Saturn square North Node in Gemini – a fairly chaotic personality, scattered, highly-strung; with a tricky Mars Neptune in Scorpio trine Saturn and sextile his Virgo planets. Not an easy or a happy chart. His Venus in Libra is in an indulgent trine to Jupiter so will have his lighter-hearted moments.

He is certainly not a good fit with Nathalie Portman whose Gemini Sun is square and her Virgo Moon conjunct his Sun, Pluto and Uranus.

Their relationship chart has a chilly composite Moon opposition Saturn with Saturn in an aggravated trine to Mars and sextile Uranus.  Tr Uranus was square the composite Sun when this storm in a teacup brewed up.

He’s sinking at the moment with tr Neptune opposing his Sun and Pluto and will continue to be at a low ebb through 2020 as well.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black who two years ago married Olympic diver Tom Daley and had a surrogate baby has been talking of his Mormon childhood and fear of being gay. He was born 19 June 1974 2.32 pm Sacramento, California, with his father leaving his polio-stricken mother early on, his first stepfather being violent and living within a Texas military community – not an easy environment and it made him dumb for several years.

He has an Air Grand Trine of a 9^th house campaigning and communicative Gemini Sun trine an Aquarius Moon trine Uranus in Libra in his 1st house; with his Sun opposition a Sagittarius Node, plugging him into the zeitgeist. His Sun is also in an expansive square to Jupiter in Pisces which is counter-balanced by a tough, unyielding Saturn conjunct his midheaven square Pluto. His influential Pluto is further amplified being on the focal point of a mini Grand Trine to a showbizzy Mars in entertaining Leo trine Neptune. Not short of determination or confidence.

On the surface he’s quite like Tom Daley, 21 May 1994, who also (probably) has an Air Sun and Moon – Gemini and Libra. Though it’s not the easiest connection with Daley’s Venus in Cancer being conjunct Black’s Saturn and square his Pluto;  and Daley’s Uranus opposing Black’s Mars – in some ways fairly blocked emotionally and also volatile.

Their relationship chart has a needs-space composite Sun Mars Venus opposition Uranus Moon – so two strong individuals who won’t find it easy to compromise. Plus a chained-together Saturn opposition Pluto. There is a stabilising Jupiter trine Saturn but it’s not the most intuitive of matches.

Actress Jodie Comer is flying high at the moment after a BAFTA Best Actress win for playing the psychopathic assassin Villanelle in the first series of BBC America’s Killing Eve, now showing in season two.

She was born 11 March 1983 in Liverpool and started appearing in TV drama from her mid teens onwards, building up to lead roles in Lady Chatterley, Doctor Foster, Rillington Place and The White Princess.

She has a Sun in filmic Pisces trine Pluto sextile a highly-strung Uranus Neptune in Capricorn. She also has a Cardinal Grand Square of Venus in Aries opposition Jupiter square Mars in Cancer opposition Uranus Neptune – so highly restless, volatile, spilling over with initiative, inclined to be impulsive and over-reactive.

She swears by the show’s writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who’s also on a roll with an exceptionally popular comedy drama series Fleabag just finished showing as well. Phoebe, 14 July 1985 London, is multi-talented being an actress, playwright and screenplay writer. She has a feisty Sun Mars in Cancer in a hard-working trine to Saturn in conscientious Scorpio with a Moon Venus in Gemini opposition Uranus and trine Jupiter. Quite a split personality with a hard-driving side and an indulgent, light hearted streak.

Phoebe’s Sun Mars are conjunct Jodie’s Uranus Neptune which is a sparky cross over; with Phoebe’s Saturn conjunct Jodie’s Pluto which is helpful for dark joint enterprises, a touch heavy for 24/7 togetherness.