JK Rowling has attracted a twitter storm with her statement explaining why Johnny Depp has remained in the title role of the new film, The Crimes of Grindelwald, after he was accused of domestic abuse by his ex-wife Amber Heard. Part of the billion-pound Harry Potter franchise, the film is set to be a huge box-office success. She said the terms of his divorce were kept private by both sides and she felt that should be respected. Normally outspoken on social issues, she’s clearly been caught in a tight spot, which is always the case when there’s a personal friendship – and money – involved.

On the face of it, their chemistry is not that easy with his volatile Uranus Mars Pluto in Virgo conjunct her own Mercury, Venus, Uranus Pluto in Virgo; and his Moon squares her Mars – so it wouldn’t work in close emotional space. But his Gemini Sun is conjunct her Jupiter for good feelings.

Their relationship chart has a friendly and affectionate composite Sun Venus with filmic and deceptive Neptune trine Sun Venus, and conjunct the composite Moon opposition Jupiter. Sometimes tricky to see relationships clearly when Neptune is putting everything into soft focus.

Just a quickie on a rising superstar in Irish steeplechasing, teenage jockey Jack Kennedy. Yesterday at Clonmel in a novice chase, he was nearly unseated at the fourth jump, turned upside down and back to front, and managed to haul himself back in the saddle – and then proceeded to win.

Born 22 April 1999, his chart is a wonderful mix of supremely confident with Jupiter in Aries trine Pluto and sextile Uranus; and grimly determined from a Taurus Sun Saturn opposition Mars in Scorpio squaring onto Neptune. By the seat of his pants and the skin of his teeth – his lucky Jupiter fished him out of trouble.  Lester Piggott, the flat jockey supremo also had a Jupiter trine Pluto – it helps.  See the video on twitter @attheraces

Elton John’s mother has died, happily just reconciled to her son after a seven-year feud. She had refused to drop old friends with whom he’d fallen out, and said “I’m not a person to be controlled or told what to do.” As a result of their estrangement Elton did not attend the funeral of his stepfather in 2010, of whom he had previously been fond. His mother was exceptionally supportive of his early musical career and accepting when he came out as gay.

Sheila Farebrother was born 25 March 1925 to a mother born in the workhouse and her father was a WW1 veteran and groundsman. She was a rebellious Sun Uranus in Pisces sextile a determined Mars in Taurus; with a tough Moon Saturn in Taurus.

Elton, 25 March 1947 4pm London, has an 8^th house Aries Sun, a pointer to his much-loved grandmother. His Sun is trine a tough-minded and depressive Saturn Pluto in Leo in his 12^th and opposition a musical Neptune in his 2^nd house of finances. He has a happy-childhood Jupiter in Scorpio in his 4^th, which makes the rift all the more surprising.  His 7^th house fiery Mars Mercury in Pisces is in a volatile square to Uranus in his 10^th, so he is liable to erupt when anything interferes with his plans.

His mothers’ Mars in Taurus is conjunct his midheaven, a testament to her efforts on his behalf to get his career rolling. But her Sun Uranus were conjunct his Mars which would make for a fairly combustible mix at times; and her stubbornly determined, never-let-on-when-she-was-hurt Scorpio Moon conjunct Saturn opposed his equally stubborn Moon in Taurus.

Their relationship chart was a real mix of pluses and minuses with the composite Sun opposition Saturn square Jupiter and trine Pluto, so it would always blow hot and cold.  With Pluto also square Mars indicating an underlying power struggle for the upper hand.

When the rift happened she was on her Uranus Return with tr Pluto square their composite Sun and tr Uranus opposing Saturn and about to conjunct the composite Sun – a testing time.

The jinxed Freddie Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, has found a new director after Bryan Singer was ousted and still seems on track for a late 2018 release. Since 2008, it has suffered from two changes in writer, three different lead actors and now the second director.   Bryan Singer appears to have gone because of unreliability due, he claims, to family illness; and there were differences with the lead actor Rami Malek.

Singer was born 17 September 1965, the same day as the Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and a week after Bashar Assad of Syria.  He is a Sun Virgo, with fairly chaotic Uranus Mercury Pluto in Virgo opposition Saturn in Pisces probably square a Gemini Moon, and sextile Mars Neptune in Scorpio. He also has Venus in Scorpio. Not an easy personality, that’s for sure. Over the years various allegations have been made against him from underage boys (see wiki) which were dismissed but have revived with the Spacey scandal erupting. He’s got tr Neptune conjunct his Saturn which is disorientating in 2017/18 and tr Neptune then moves on to oppose his Uranus, Mercury and Pluto. So an undermining time in his life.

He’d certainly be a bad fit with Rami Malek, the American-Egyptian actor, much awarded for his lead in Mr Robot. He was born 12 May 1981 8.41am Torrance, California and is a Sun Mars in Taurus. His Sun is on the focal point of a Yod inconjunct  Pluto sextile Neptune with his Sun opposition Uranus. He’ll stand his ground in discussions and not give way easily. His Virgo Moon is conjunct Singer’s Uranus Pluto and opposition Singer’s Saturn; with his Taurus Sun Mars opposition Singer’s Mars Neptune. He’d find Singer less than comforting to be around and inflexible.

Their relationship chart has a composite Sun square Uranus, which requires each give the other space and the freedom to be who they are without interference.  Not conducive to co-operation. Tr Uranus has been square the composite Sun and opposition Uranus this year, so it would be rocky and has now finally split, no doubt to Malek’s relief.  Rami Malek is a twin, only four minutes different from his brother who is a teacher. Same astro-energies but focussed in different directions.

Malek’s life will alter radically at the end of 2018/early 2019; and he looks to be pushing confidently ahead through 2018/19; with a good deal ahead for him.

Freddie Mercury, 5 September 1946 5.10am Zanzibar, had a Virgo Sun on the exact degree of Malek’s Moon – so a definite resonance; with Mercury’s Jupiter conjunct Malek’s Pluto.

Even Jewish American groups have accused Trump of ignorance and irresponsible decision making and warn of destructive consequences to his latest lunacy in deciding to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Middle East is in uproar with the Palestinians promising ‘three days of rage’, though it’s unlikely to end there. World leaders have been unanimous in their condemnation.

Quite how his best-buddy Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, will view the latest development is unclear, despite his recent overtures to Israel. My tuppence worth is Trump needed a diversionary conflagration to take attention away from the Deutsche Bank subpoena, all hotly denied.

The charts for the Palestinian Declaration (15 November 1988), Gaza (9 Nov 1917) and Hezbollah (16 Feb 1985) all look exceptionally uneasy in the final days of this month, as does Israel.

Trump’s relationship with MBS won’t survive intact through 2018 with undermining Neptune transits to both Jupiter (false high hopes) from February onwards and Uranus (irrational actions). And an even greater gulf from April onwards with tr Uranus square the composite Mercury, Venus and Sun, running into 2019.

More tomorrow.

Spielberg’s The Post, just premiered, tells the timely tale of an American newspaper’s struggle to hold a corrupt administration to account. Editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) and proprietor Katherine Graham (Meryl Streep) face down legal threats from the Nixon administration, possible jail time and boardroom fainthearts, to disclose the truth about how the US government deceived America about the unwinnability of the Vietnam war. The NY Times broke the story contained in Daniel Ellsberg’s Pentagon Papers but were injuncted to stop publication. It was the scoop that paved the way for the Watergate investigation.

Meryl Streep evidently steals the show and is on top form. Though she doesn’t look altogether happy at the moment.

Born 22 June 1949 8.05 am Summit, New Jersey, she has a maverick Sun Uranus in Cancer on one leg of a Yod sextile Saturn in hard-working Virgo inconjunct Jupiter, which gives her an opportunity to have a positive effect on the masses. Her Taurus Moon is in the 10^th, suiting her for a public career.   Her Sun Uranus are about to pick up the downbeat tr Saturn opposition just before Christmas; and her Solar Arc Mars is conjunct her Pluto for the next few months making her feel increasing frustrated and angry. Tr Pluto is also squaring her midheaven in 2017/2018 so she is feeling the pressure perhaps of the political environment and the Weinstein/#metoo furore which she has been strongly outspoken in support of.

Tom Hanks, 9 July 1956 11.17am Concord, California, also favourably reviewed, is another Sun Cancer in a trine to a steadily enduring Saturn in Scorpio; with a creative and self-protective Water Grand Trine, a charming Venus in Gemini on his midheaven and a Leo Moon.

Daniel Ellsberg, the former military analyst, who released the Pentagon Papers in 1971 (7 April 1931) was a Sun Aries conjunct Uranus and North Node square Jupiter Pluto in Cancer opposition Saturn in Capricorn – so headstrong, reforming, ultra-determined. He was consummately smeared after they came out, causing maximum embarrassment to the top US political players. They tried to make him out as mad, broke into his psychiatrist’s office etc which led on eventually to the whole Watergate debacle. He was charged under the Espionage Act but that case collapsed as a result of the White House dirty tricks being exposed. Ehrlichman, Dean and others resigned and were charged and all the rest followed.

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Johnny Hallyday, the French Elvis Presley and bad-boy of rock who turned into a national treasure, has died. He sold 100 million records, starred in several films including a Jean-Luc Godard, and remained at the top for forty years, though was virtually unknown elsewhere. The BBC said: ‘Hallyday’s stage presence was undeniable. He was a hip-swinging bolt of lightning, a sexually-charged wild man of rock, and a danger to public decency.’

Born 19 June 1943 1pm in Paris, he was abandoned as a baby, brought up by an aunt and started performing cowboy songs on stage aged nine, until he found rock n’ roll and never looked back. He became friends with Edith Piaf.

He had a Sun Gemini (like many pop stars) in his public-career 10^th house, along with Saturn Uranus midheaven and Mercury also in Gemini. His Sun was square musical Neptune in his 1^st; and his ultra-charming Venus Pluto in Leo along with Jupiter brought him to the attention of an eager society. His Mars in pro-active, impulsive Aries was in his 8^th, so he would be harbouring a reservoir of anger, but channelled that into his career – with Mars trine Venus, sextile his MC. A singleton Capricorn Moon was in his 4^th squared Mars, so he’d be eternally unsettled in his home life, only ever feeling he’d be loved if he achieved and not being remotely easy to live with. He went through five marriages, one lasting two months and drank and drugged to excess. But his 17th Harmonic – leaving a legacy for the future – was exceptionally well marked. A life lived to the full.

Christine Keeler, the escort girl who was dragged unwillingly into a scandal that effectively brought down a prime minister and Tory Government in the 1960s, and whose name became synonymous with sleaze, has died. She was at the centre of a high-society expose that riveted the media and sent shock waves round the establishment, after it emerged that she’d had simultaneous liaisons with John Profumo, UK Minister of Defence, and a Russian naval attache.

Her beauty belied a sad life that started badly and ended up worse. Born 22 February 1942 11.15 am in London, she was abused by her stepfather, became a good-time girl, being handed round members of high society and the Cliveden set. She never lived down the notoriety and became latterly a recluse, estranged from her family. Unlike Mandy Rice Davies, the other showgirl involved, whose flip response in court to Lord Astor’s denial of their affair – ‘Well he would say that wouldn’t he?’ – went into public usage. She went on to have a relatively successful and respectable life.

Keeler had a 10^th house Pisces Sun inconjunct a 4^th house Pluto. Her Pluto was also the driving planet of a Kite from a Grand Trine of Venus MC Mercury in Aquarius trine a Gemini Ascendant (Jupiter) trine Neptune. Plus a punishing collection of Saturn Mars Moon Uranus in Taurus in her 12^th. Disentangling all of that – her Venus gave her undoubted charm, and opposition such an emphasised and afflicted Pluto would put her sexually at the mercy of older men (father figures). There’s cruelty aplenty from those 12^th house planets picking up an over-romanticized and ultimately disappointed Neptune in the 5^th. When the scandal broke tr Saturn was moving through her 10^th house thrusting her into the public eye and ultimately breaking any chance she had of a life thereafter.

Many Rice Davies, 21 October 1944, was made of tougher stuff. A late Sun Libra conjunct Mars in Scorpio with her Mars trine Saturn and square Pluto – she was certainly used to hardship, but she traded on her celebrity and became successful running nightclubs.

Greta Garbo was a silver-screen goddess of the 1920s and 30s, who became a byword for seclusion after she retired from films and shut herself off from the world. Even at the height of her fame she shunned publicity, rarely gave interviews and avoided social functions. Letters are now on show which reveal her depression and loneliness.

Born 18 September 1905 7.30pm Stockholm, Sweden, she grew up in a poor family where she talked of the constant anxiety, fear and ugliness of her environment. She never married and lived alone virtually all of her life.

She had a Virgo Sun, which can be self-sufficient though falling in her 5^th house it should have given her more confidence and a love of parties. She clearly focussed all that 5^th house energy into performing. What stifled her Sun was a square to Pluto opposition Mars, which would bring her acute frustration and accentuate her fears. Her Sun was also inconjunct her Saturn in the 11^th, which would make it difficult for her to function out in groups in the wider society. Saturn also opposed her Venus and squared her 12^th house Taurus Moon, making her feel un-loveable.

Her chart is a conundrum since a 5^th house Sun and Jupiter on her Ascendant should have made her outgoing. Yet a double dose of Saturn and that ferocious Mars Pluto completely damped down her spirit. She died eventually at 84, having amassed a large art collection.