Astrology of Today’s News

The Queen’s first cousin Prince Michael of Kent has been accused by a Sunday Times/Channel 4 Dispatches investigation of peddling his royal connection for access to Putin.  It sounds an extraordinary tie-up but Prince Michael is a fluent Russian speaker and is related on both sides of his family to the last Tsar, Nicholas 11, assassinated in 1917 by the Bolsheviks, to whom he bears a strong resemblance. The prince is one of a small number of Britons awarded the Kremlin’s highest honours, the Order of Friendship, for his work on Anglo-Russian relations. Others include George Blake, the British double agent.

   He does not receive taxpayer-funded income from the sovereign grant, though the Queen personally pays his substantial rent at Kensington Palace and he retains his honorary military titles. His lifestyle is financed by acting as a consultant for business clients and his personal company, Cantium Services, has made more than £2.2 million, over the past five years without paying corporation tax because it has been operating at a loss.

 His father, Prince George, Duke of Kent, who was killed in a plane crash weeks after his birth, had a louche reputation with tales of multiple affairs and a cocaine and morphine addiction.

  Prince Michael, 4 July 1942 7.35pm Iver, England, has a secretive, deeply buried Sun Jupiter in Cancer in the 8^th square an Aries Moon in his IC – so he is strongly linked to his family forbears and their largesse. His Moon is also trine a tricky, can-be-ruthless Mars Pluto in Leo which may have given him an inclination to mix with powerful and less savoury characters. His social butterfly Venus in Gemini is conjunct Saturn Uranus on his Descendant making for changeable close relationships.

  Relocating his chart to Moscow puts his Sun Jupiter in his 7^th for a sociable connection and wilful Mars Pluto in the secretive, financial 8^th.

   His relationships with the senior Royals – Prince Charles, Prince William and the Queen – are under stress this year into early 2022. The Queen is fond of him but will not be pleased at yet another Royal sleaze scandal landing on her doorstep.

  Prince Michael’s Mars in Leo is being buffeted around this year by tr Uranus square and tr Saturn in opposition for major setbacks and high insecurity; tr Neptune is in an undermining square to his Solar Arc Midheaven and his Solar Arc Sun is conjunct his Neptune for much the same slump effect. Plus his Descendant and Gemini planets are being rattled by the Eclipses late this month and in June.

  His haughty wife, Princess Michael, 15 January 1945, Sydney, AU, isn’t looking too chipper either with tr Pluto conjunct her Capricorn Sun till this December and tr Neptune eroding her steely Solar Arc Mars opposition Saturn. Her relationship to her husband looks less than rapturous through this year with aggravations from this August onwards for a few months. The consequences may well impact on their lifestyle in ways she finds irksome.

Pic: Allen Warren

Boris the boundless is here for an eternity, according to a media over-excited by the admittedly resounding win for the Tories in Hartlepool. They forget, as ever, that a week is a long time in politics and ten years which they are confidently predicting is millions of light years hence.

  This success showed up clearly on the Conservative Party 10 May 1912 chart with Solar Arc Jupiter square the Pluto now – which may make me revise my jaundiced opinion of political party charts, though it is clearly dependent on nailing down the right one. Where this chart goes into a seismic convulsion and loses influence is in 2023 when tr Neptune squares the Pluto and tr Uranus is conjunct the Sun Saturn in Taurus plus Solar Arc Uranus is conjunct the Sun as well in 2023. That will throw everything up in the air.

  Where Boris’s Term chart runs into more obvious problems is in 2022. Though this year it does have an undermining tr Neptune square the Sun in September/October and again early in 2022 – as well as this month’s Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse rattling up the Term Mercury and the June Gemini Solar Eclipse opposing the Term Sun brewing up a crisis or two in the months thereafter. What will make 2022 sticky is the Term 12^th house Saturn Venus Pluto conjunction moving to exact in spring 2022 for a logjam; with tr Saturn in late January/early February and then tr Uranus from May rattling up the Term Mars for setbacks, shocks and insecurity.

  David Frost, the EU liaison is looking downcast and a failure through 2022 with his relationship to Boris extremely aggravated and logjammed. The Brexit damage at present is less than expected except for the poor fishermen and other business snafus, but once the pandemic recedes and the full extent of the over-spending becomes obvious – and has to be paid for – there may be more focus turned on the economy. Boris’s relationship with the Tory Party will be souring from May 2022 onwards. Ditto his relationship with both co-chairpersons of the Tory Party who are looking less and less enamoured ahead.

  Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, isn’t as sanguine or optimistic as his jovial appearance suggests with an uncertain tr Neptune opposition his Saturn this year; panicky failed-plans this year and the next two from Neptune midpoints; and considerable upheavals in 2023/24 with tr Uranus conjunct his Taurus Sun and opposition Uranus. His Term chart is running into road blocks late 2022 and sagging badly in 2023.

Liz Cheney is ploughing a lonely furrow in Washington continuing her public criticism of Trump, denouncing his lies about a stolen election and demanding the G.O.P. tell the truth about how his supporters assaulted democracy during the January 6 riot at the Capitol. Her refusal to compromise on principle and truth may well sacrifice her career ambitions within her party.

  Born 28 July 1966, she’s a Sun Leo with a passionately enthusiastic Venus Mars in Cancer and her Jupiter in Cancer trine Neptune and sextile Uranus Pluto in Virgo. Although she has the bullishly determined – and often successful – tr Pluto opposition her Sun/Jupiter midpoint this year and next, she has undermining Neptune influences from late this month on and off into early 2023; calamitous Mars midpoints triggering from this July, on and off into 2022 and a panicky mid August to late November.

  Her relationship chart with Kevin McCarthy, the Minority House leader, is embroiled in bitter discussions in 2021/22 and worse in 2023.

  Her relationship charts with the two Republican charts – 22 February 1956 and 28 February 1954 – don’t look to be settling anytime soon, indeed tensions will stretch through till 2024.

  Mind you so are Trump’s relationship charts with the GOP which are not doing as well as the PR would suggest this year and will be on a sharp downward spiral from April 2022 onwards.

 Kevin McCarthy will be under acute pressure in 2022/23 and flat out failing through 2024/25 – though that may be personal, not necessarily a reflection of the GOP’s fortunes.

 One wonders quite when the penny will drop with the GOP about who they’ve been supporting – or maybe they already know and don’t care.

Old enmities are uncoiling from hibernation as the French threaten to cut electricity cables to the Channel island of Jersey in the midst of an escalating post-Brexit dispute over fishing rights. It ironically coincides with the 200^th anniversary of the death of Napoleon Bonaparte who finished his days exiled and imprisoned on St Helena after losing the Battle of Waterloo to the English.

  Napoleon is a contradictory figure, shunned by previous French presidents but not by Macron. On the one hand Napoleon is revered as a brilliant military general, who saved the French Revolution and laid the foundations of the modern French state – equality before the law, property rights, religious toleration, modern secular education, sound finances, a rational and efficient local administration, an end to rural banditry, the encouragement of science and the arts, the abolition of feudalism and the greatest codification of laws since the fall of the Roman Empire.

  On the downside he was an authoritarian strongman, who reinstated slavery after it had been abolished since he saw a massive slave empire in the Caribbean as good for the greater glory of France and the French economy.

 Born 15 August 1769 11am (birth time unverified) Ajaccio, France, he had a Sun Leo in an expansive square to Jupiter in Scorpio. But what dominates his chart is an Earth Grand Trine of a revolutionary Pluto trine Uranus trine Neptune Mars in Virgo which would give him practical skills, a good business head and a ruthless edge. It was formed into two Kites (and a three-quarter Grand Sextile) with Uranus opposition Jupiter and Pluto opposition Venus so he had undoubted talents and would be exceptionally resourceful with organizational skills.

 The Anglo-Franco squabbles have been ongoing for centuries through a rolling series of continental wars, starting with the 1066 Norman invasion of England. Taking the present-day France 1792 and UK 1801 charts it’s easy to see why there is such aggravation between the two countries. France has a Fixed T Square of Uranus opposition Pluto square Mars in Scorpio which clashes mightily with the UK’s Fixed planets. In the relationship chart  there is a composite fight-to-the-death, implacably-hostile Mars Pluto conjunction square the Sun; and an evasive Mercury Neptune.

   If anything tensions are likely to rise through 2022/23/24 with tr Saturn conjunct the Mars Pluto and square Sun in 2022; and tr Uranus square the Mars, Pluto and opposition Sun between 2022 and 2024. With a disconcerting tr Neptune square Saturn to add to the confusion.

  Even the old England 973 and France 843 charts in relation have much the same vibe with a composite Mars Pluto tied into Neptune, Uranus and Saturn.

  The UK looks marginally less aggravated but still agitated with the EU through 2022/2023 as well. The post-Brexit divorce rancour will run on.

Bill and Melinda Gates, one of the world’s richest couples with a fortune of $130billion, are getting divorced after 27 years of marriage and three children.

  He was born 28 October 1955 at 10pm in Seattle, WA and has an intense and private 4^th house Scorpio Sun and a cool though obsessive Venus Saturn in Scorpio; with his pro-active Aries Moon on his Midheaven opposition a 4^th house Mars which wouldn’t make for an altogether peaceful home life. He has an inventive, innovative, not-always-cooperative Uranus in his 1^st square his Sun Neptune; and a super-confident and successful 2^nd house financial Jupiter Pluto in Leo square a determined and obsessive Saturn in Scorpio conjunct Venus.

  She was born 15 August 1964, no time unfortunately, and has a Leo Sun conjunct his Jupiter Pluto; her enthusiastic Venus Mars in Cancer squaring his Moon opposition Mars; and her Moon may be conjunct his Saturn if she was an early morning birth. She has said he finds the work/home balance difficult to manage – which is partly to do with his 4th house Saturn.

  Their relationship chart has major pluses and minuses – a half Grand Sextile of composite Jupiter opposition Saturn sextile/trine Pluto Venus and Neptune. It would have highs and lows and be built to last though clearly not for ever. There is also a volatile, no-compromise composite Uranus Mars conjunction so they would go through heated patches.

   Divorce announcements always come at the end of sometimes years of stress or hidden separations. Bill Gates’ Sun/Moon midpoint, his marriage significator, at 21 degrees Capricorn has had the tr Uranus square tr Pluto hammering at it since 2016 and more so since 2018 so it’s been a long period of inner turmoil. At the moment he has tr Saturn moving through his 7^th house since late last year which is often a separation marker and more so tr Pluto now on his Descendant about to move through his 7^th.

  Melinda’s Sun/Moon and houses aren’t known without a birth time but she may have been going through an equally stressed phase through the last few years. At the moment she looks both energised with tr Pluto trine her Jupiter this year and undermined with a panicky Solar Arc Neptune opposition her Mars and her Progressed Mars square her Neptune; plus an anxious Neptune transit to her Mars/Pluto midpoint.

  Although the court papers evidently claim the marriage is ‘irretrievably broken’ that may just be a divorce lawyer phrase to indicate that the decision has been taken.

  An unusual silence hangs over the White House despite the monumentally ambitious stimulus plans. Compared to what went before, the hush is almost unnerving.

  Joe Biden does have tr Pluto opposition his Jupiter on and off this year and tr Pluto trine his Sun/Jupiter midpoint extending through next year as well. So he will have good luck on his side. Though he won’t miss tr Saturn square tr Uranus crashing into his Mars in Scorpio – this month and in particular next month in June, repeating on and off into early 2022 which will produce jolts and insecurity. This May the Lunar Eclipse and in December the Solar Eclipse will also rattle up his Uranus Saturn in Gemini for more jangles and tension.

  Where he looks more panicked and facing major crises or catastrophes is April 2022 on and off till late 2023, when tr Neptune opposes his Mars/Pluto midpoint. That is also when tr Neptune opposes the Mars in Virgo on his Chief of Staff Ron Klain’s chart. Evidently Klain is doing a good deal of the heavy lifting at the moment. Born 8 August 1961, four days after Barack Obama, he has the same Sun Uranus in Leo and tough, disciplined Mars trine Saturn. But he’s running into trouble through 2022/23.

  2022/23 is also when the Biden Term chart runs into serious headaches with that explosive and problematic Saturn Sun square Mars Uranus moving to exact by Solar Arc; and tr Pluto will also by then be starting the challenging and pressured conjunction to the Term Aquarius Sun.

Add On:  Kamala Harris has the same uplift as Joe Biden with tr Pluto trine her Jupiter in Taurus until late this November and tr Jupiter is moving through her 10^th till March 2023 which is generally successful. But also like him she runs into more obvious problems from next year onwards when she picks up the challenging tr Pluto square her Libra Sun and her Aries Moon and conjunct her Sun/Moon midpoint, on and off till late 2023. The latter could suggest marital tensions but in a politician it can also point to a popularity dent. But one way and another she’ll be under huge pressure. Plus tr Neptune will square her Ascendant and oppose her Sun/Mars midpoint from April 2022 onwards till late 2023 – which suggests an undermining of her image, low vitality and failed-plans. During this period tr Uranus will make a high-anxiety opposition to her Neptune.

  Late 2023 sees a discouraging Solar Arc Saturn opposition her Sun and from April 2024 onwards for two years she picks up another Neptunian sinker to her Sun/Saturn midpoint.

  Her Progressed Moon will move through her 12^th house from the middle of this year to mid 2023 which is usually a time of endings, inward looking and not too upbeat. Then she’ll experience some uplift as it moves across her Ascendant and that coincides with tr Saturn being conjunct her Midheaven in March 2023 and starting her career peak of eight years thereafter with heavier responsibilities.

  To be remember no one occupies these positions of staggering responsibility and prominence without running into problem after problem so some of the above is to be expected.  But she will be getting ground down hard with those Pluto transits to her Sun and Moon.  

Polls are indicating a lessening in support for Boris Johnson and the Conservatives days before a raft of council and mayoral elections, a key parliamentary byelection in Hartlepool and elections to the Welsh Senedd and the Scottish parliament. The sleaze and dishonesty allegations are beginning to bite though Johnson is still seen as a more effective leader than Keir Starmer because of the vaccine roll out.

   Caveat – polls almost invariably get it wrong. But Starmer’s dull persona and no visible-policy strategy is doing Labour no favours even in the face of gross impropriety in No 10.

  Born 2 September 1962 Starmer has a self-protective Water Grand Trine of Mars trine Neptune trine Jupiter in Pisces, formed into a Kite by Jupiter opposition an influential and innovative Sun Pluto Uranus in Virgo – so he doesn’t lack talent. But his Neptune is on the focal point of a Fixed T Square to a Saturn opposition North Node. He will have a vision for a better society but too much Neptune can blunt the edge of decisiveness needed to push ambitions ahead.

  His Neptune is catching the highly-strung opposition from tr Uranus over this election and will be jittered and jangled all year with tr Saturn in square as well. Over this week he has tr Neptune opposition his Mercury/Pluto midpoint as well which will be undermining, leaving him lost for effective arguments.

  Where his leadership chart bucks up will be from mid this August to late November with tr Pluto conjunct the Jupiter but he was elected at a rotten time with a restrictive Mars Saturn conjunction in the 8^th which comes to exact across mid 2022 which doesn’t sound encouraging. 2022 looks an exceptionally tough year for his leadership with one upbeat Jupiter probably not making enough headway against a raft of negative influences.

  I’m never that convinced by political party charts but for what its worth the Labour Party 27 February 1900 chart looks upbeat at the same time as Starmer’s leadership chart – mid August to late November, though that’s only one ray of sunshine amidst a run of pressured and swampy transits for the next two years.

  The Labour Party 12 February 1906 chart does have an upbeat tr Pluto trine the Jupiter from February 2022 on and off to late 2023 which will bring a modicum of success in the midst of considerable setbacks.

  Boris Johnson’s relationship chart with the Conservative Party, 10 May 1912 chart, is running out of enthusiasm from 2022 onwards so he may not deliver what they expect.

  2023/24 look highly disruptive years for both the LP and the Tory Party charts with hard tr Uranus aspects to the Sun Venus and Sun Saturn respectively. So both parties may be sent back to the drawing board for a redesign as the next election approaches in May 2024 if it sticks to schedule.  

  Now that I think about it, that’s when tr Uranus will square the UK’s 11^th house Saturn which rules the legislature for even more upheavals, tensions and forced change.  

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Josh Duggar, eldest son of the TV reality-show procreation-heavy Duggar family of “19 kids and counting” has been charged with receiving and possessing child pornography. He has plead not guilty. A conviction could land him with 20 years in prison and gargantuan fines. His trial is due for July. The show was cancelled in 2015 after he was accused of molesting multiple young girls, including several of his own sisters, though a TV sequel continued.

   Josh’s wife, Anna, is expecting their seventh child in the autumn.

  Josh Duggar, 3 March 1988, Arkansas, is a Sun Pisces trine Pluto with the highly-strung, can-be-chaotic Uranus, Saturn, Neptune conjunction in Capricorn with Mars in the middle of it. He’ll be a loose cannon and reckless. His Mercury squares Pluto for a tendency to be stubborn, clinging onto ideas which don’t stand up to evidence. And he has a frivolous, indulgent Jupiter Venus in Aries which is trine Uranus, Saturn and Mars – emotionally changeable. His Virgo Moon sits across from his Pisces Sun hinting at an ambivalence between his parents.

  What always struck me about this ultra-religious, highly conservative, only-in-America Duggar phenomenon was the chemistry between the parents Jim Bob and Michelle. Their relationship chart has a volcanic and volatile composite Pluto, Uranus, Mars, Mercury possibly square Moon with Pluto Uranus opposition Saturn – and that is not all sweetness and light.

Pop, 18 July 1965, is a lost-in-his-own-world Sun Cancer in a Water Grand Trine to Neptune and Saturn (Moon) in Pisces with Saturn (Moon) opposition Uranus Pluto square Jupiter – not always in tune with reality and overly confident. Mom, 13 September 1966, has possibly six planets spread out through highly-strung Virgo, ranging from (Moon), Venus, Pluto, Uranus, Sun to Mercury. Admittedly her Jupiter is conjunct Jim Bob’s Sun but that apart they are both scattergun, insecure, agitated personalities.

  The five children who came after Josh also have either the triple conjunction in Capricorn or the high-tension Uranus Neptune which must have made for a tinderbox atmosphere domestically.       

The first of this year’s Eclipses is the Total Lunar Eclipse on 26 May at 5 degrees Sagittarius/Gemini. The Full Moon is in an expansive square to Jupiter in Pisces with the Sun trine Saturn which combines high hopes and over-confidence with stability. However the stressed and contradictory Saturn square Uranus is still in place as is an evasive, dithery Neptune square Mercury; and there’s a ruthless, destructive, trapped and enraged Mars opposition Pluto – so it won’t all be singing and dancing.

  The Solar Eclipse following on 10 June at 19 degrees Gemini is conjunct Mercury and square Neptune so confusion and indecision will still be creating problems. But it is in the positive 5 North Saros Series, which can bring sudden flashes of insight – hunches, visions, prophetic dreams with a strongly creative flavour (Bernadette Brady: the Eagle and the Lark.) Saturn square Uranus is still a constant and the frustratingly deadlocked Mars opposition Pluto has moved closer so there will still be considerable obstacles to overcome and risky situations.

While there are still ifs and buts, this is the first reasonably positive Eclipse for eighteen months and the upcoming December one is even more joyous and upbeat.

  Both Eclipses will rattle up the USA chart since the Lunar Eclipse is opposition the USA Uranus and the June Solar Eclipse is conjunct the US Mars in Gemini which could bring heated arguments and rash actions – either internally or in foreign relations.  The second one will also impact Donald Trump’s chart in a major way so crises are to be expected there. 

  Boris Johnson will also be in the line of fire with the Lunar Eclipse opposing his focal point Mars and rattling that volcanic T square of his; and the June Solar hitting on his Mercury in Gemini forcing him to rethink his ideas and probably making him even more scattered than usual.   The June Solar Eclipse is also opposition his Term Sagittarius Sun which is another challenging and high-stress marker. And opposition the UK Mercury – so the jitterbug mood will roll on.