One thing worse than being born into a celebrity family is being born into an aristocratic one. Castle Howard, the spectacular setting for Brideshead Revisited, is now the scene of a family feud which according to a friend makes ‘Kane and Abel look like a fairy tale.’
Before the late Lord Howard of Henderskelfe died in 1984 he offered the running of the house and estate to the elder son Nicholas, who turned it down to pursue an (unsuccessful) career as a pop singer. So his brother Simon took it over. Now he and his family have been issued with an eviction notice telling them to leave their home by the end of January. Nicholas and his wife Victoria Barnsley (until 2013 a high powered publishing CEO) are taking over.
Nicholas Howard, 25 April 1952, is a Sun in Taurus opposition Mars in Scorpio with Sun conjunct Jupiter in late Aries; and Mars square Pluto – so lucky, stubborn, ultra-determined to get his own way.
Simon Howard, 26 January 1956, is a Sun Mercury in Aquarius opposition Uranus square Neptune; with Mars Saturn in Sagittarius square Venus in Pisces; and a confident Jupiter Pluto conjunction in Leo. So also Fixed, not always co-operative and creative. There’s always a feeling about Mars Saturn of not getting quite what he wants, or being badly done by. Nicholas’s Mars in Scorpio squares his Aquarius Sun which is not a good combination since Mars here has a do-or-die relentlessness and a ruthless streak.
Their relationship chart has a volatile Water Grand Trine of composite Sun trine Uranus trine Mars; and worse a composite Mars square Pluto; and a Yod onto the composite Sun – so explosive, hostile, power struggling and a real ego-clash.
Simon Howard has been having a tough time recently with his Solar Arc Saturn Mars crossing over his Sun, through a bout of throat cancer and now this. He looks disappointed and lacking drive in 2016. Though will bounce back in 2017/18 as tr Uranus trines his Pluto Jupiter.
Victoria Barnsley, wife of Nicholas, according to reports is part of the driving force behind the changeover. Born 4 March 1954, she has Sun, probably Moon, and two other planets in Pisces on the focal point of a T Square to Mars in Sagittarius opposition Jupiter – so ego-centric, a risk-taker, talented, scattered.
Her relationship with Simon is bleak with a composite Sun opposition Pluto square Saturn. With her husband there’s a real powerhouse, Sherman Tank of a composite T square of Mars opposition Jupiter square Pluto. Mows down anything in its path. She doesn’t look either settled or successful over the next two to three years.