Paula Yates, a celebrity from the past in her heyday second only to Princess Diana in the top tier, whose name conjures up an image of debauchery, wild drink and drug taking, family scandals and self-destructive suicide, is presented in a documentary as a victim of the 1980s/90s anarchic and misogynistic media. A loyal best friend said that Yates was actually a teetotal home-loving mother, a “cross between Marilyn Monroe and Mary Poppins”.
She rose from being a rock journalist to a television star, became ‘Saint’ Bob Geldof’s wife, bore three children; then left him for INXS frontman Michael Hutchence with a nasty custody battling ensuing. Hutchence hung himself in late 1997, accidentally or otherwise, when their baby was a year old. Two weeks after that, she learned religious TV presenter Jess Yates was not her real father and TV star Hughie Green, whom she loathed, was. She died from an accidental heroin overdose in 2000, found by her four year old daughter Tiger. Peaches, one of her daughters with Geldof, also died from an accidental drug overdose, aged 25.
Paul Yates was born 24 April 1959 12.10 am Colwyn Bay, Wales, the daughter of a former showgirl and author of erotic novels who was often absent during her childhood. Paula had a tactile and indulgent Taurus Sun on the cusp of her fun-loving and performing 5th house opposition Neptune in Scorpio and widely opposition an intense Scorpio Moon, and square a rebellious Uranus. This was in a Mystic Rectangle to a hard-edged Saturn in Capricorn opposition Mars in Cancer in her 8th house which also squared onto Mercury. She would be driven by demons from her ancestral legacy and highly strung with such a high-wire Mercury. Her Mercury was further emphasised being on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Neptune sextile Pluto.
And she had a confident Pluto square Jupiter widely tied into a Mutable T Square to Venus in social butterfly Gemini.
What an extraordinarily complicated chart and human being – addictive prone from Neptune was well as creative, super-confident and self-doubting, frivolous and profound.
Her relationship to Geldof was equally complicated with positive crossovers from his Sagittarius Moon to her Venus for superficial domestic harmony; and communication boosting from his Jupiter conjunct her Mercury which also softened her Saturn opposition Mars. His Venus was conjunct her Pluto for passion and his Sun was conjunct her North Node for a karmic connection. But his Mars was also conjunct her Pluto for a power struggle; his Uranus was in her 8th conjunct her Mars, hinting at subterranean unrest and his Neptune was conjunct her Midheaven for confusion about direction. Geldof 5 October 1951 2.20 pm Dublin.
Michael Hutchence, 22 January 1960 5am Sydney, Australia, in many ways was a lost soul like her. He had an Aquarius Sun square a Scorpio Moon and Neptune; and a tormented, accident-prone Mars Saturn in Capricorn trine Pluto. With a light-hearted Jupiter Venus in Sagittarius covering over his inner struggle with a devil-may-care smile. A serious accident in 1992 left him with residual brain damage. His Uranus in the 7th house of close relationships hinted that long-term commitments were not his thing.
When she died tr Pluto was exactly opposition her Venus; tr Saturn exactly opposition her Jupiter; the tr Moon within a degree of crossing her Sun and tr Neptune was square her Sun and Neptune – emotionally intense, discouraging and optimism-denting and sliding into a Neptunian swamp.
Looking at it all from a distance – she didn’t do herself any favours with the media, deliberately hyping her sexuality. She did have a sad backstory – but I feel sorry for these poor kids growing up in all that mayhem.
Add On: Having skipped through her family background in greater detail, it’s a miracle she was as sane as she was and survived as long. Mother, date unknown circa 1938, a total whackjob and absent mainly, the below link worth reading: https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2000/aug/06/features.review7
It lays out mother’s tortuous and surreal explanation for why the Green paternity was not true though it clearly was.
Paula was brought up as the daughter of Jess Yates, religious TV presenter who was manic depressive and lost his career after being exposed having a fling with a 16 year old at the instigation of long-time enemy Hughie Green. Green himself had numerous affairs, another illegitimate child from his teenage years, and was self-obsessed according to his other children who described him as “highly dysfunctional”. Alcohol, drugs and ultimately cancer from smoking made his final years reclusive.
Green, 2 February 1920, London was a poser and a hypocrite with a Sun Aquarius opposition Neptune Jupiter in flamboyant Leo. His superficially charming and manipulative Pluto in Cancer opposition Venus crashed into Paula’s Mars opposition Saturn square Mercury; and his Sun opposed her Uranus, with his Mars in vengeful Scorpio opposition her Sun – not a good fit.
Jess Yates, 20 December 1918, was not much better, though marginally so, with his Sagittarius Sun falling in her 5th house. But his Pluto was also conjunct her Mars, his Neptune conjunct her Ascendant and his Saturn conjunct her Pluto.
She was not well served by the adults in her childhood.
Her Neptune in the 4th certainly showed up one of its less wonderful facets both in terms of the ethos of her growing up years and also the mystery of her father.
Is being Hughie Green’s daughter really *that* traumatizing?
Unless I was his child I don’t think I’d feel confident enough to comment thereto.
I think Hughie Green was hated by Jess Yates, so it must have been difficult. Her mother assured her that it wasn’t true so she made the whole thing public and had to deal with the press afterwards.
I thought it was because Paula was embarrassed at Hughie’s love of ‘right wing parades or establishment’ (for want of a better phrase) when he had Boy Scouts or naval cadets marching around the studio when he was hosting Opportunity Knocks.
I vaguely remember watching it on tv but obviously it was a lot deeper than that from what I know now.
Happy to be corrected if I’m wrong.
Her daughter died of a drug overdose and left behind 2 children.
Bob’s chart is interesting with Pluto placed in the 8th, indicating ancestral trauma as well as Venus and the Moon squaring onto the nodes. The reason being that not only did he lose his ex wife, Paula and daughter, Peaches but his mother, Evelyn Geldof died when Bob was 6 years old from a brain haemorrhage at the age of just 41. Geldof’s paternal grandmother, Amelia Falk was Jewish of German descent. With all that in mind the square in his chart between Venus and the Moon ties into the nodal axis with Venus on the South Node – there’s karmic forces at work in his relationships with women. Three generations of women in Geldof’s life died tragically young.
Paula was apparently a talented writer and I think she would have progressed and perfected that talent had she lived. Such a sad loss.
Eerie – 41 years –
that his mother and the mother of his children went at the same shocking age.
I have a virtually identical chart to Michael Hutchence, except with libra rising, so all different houses. I have to say, I’m not accident prone with my mars/saturn conjunction in Capricorn trine Pluto.
It’s in the 3rd house with me.
In fact I’ve always thought of it as a strength.
Interesting that he’s back in the limelight now Pluto is on our sun.
Paula Yates was very quick and witty and an earth mother.
Thanks Marjorie – I was wondering about Paula’s astrology. I read that she was ill as a child, and also her childhood was quite unsettled to say the least. It’s interesting to see her biological father’s planets, and a bit spooky too since she didn’t know he was her father and her mother continued to deny it, even after the DNA test proved it. And actually, if you look at photos of Hughie Green when he was very young, there’s a real resemblance.
Hughie Green, 2 February 1920, had Pluto at 6 Cancer – conjunct Paula’s Mars, and opposing her Saturn. His Uranus, 0 Pisces, aspects her Pluto and Jupiter. His Saturn, 10 Virgo, squares her Venus – and weirdly, is conjunct Bob Geldof’s South Node and square his Moon. There are more links than this between Paula and her father. I can’t find her mother’s date of birth. I find it fascinating that these links are there, for what might be called an ‘invisible’ father. The information that Hughie Green was Paula’s birth father was announced at his memorial by a ‘friend’, and must have been the most awful shock, at an already difficult time in her life. The press went mad, predictably.
It all made me wonder, yet again, about family patterns and the sometimes toxic nature of family secrets.
My husband’s older brother never knew his father and is a Leo Sun in the Neptunian 12th house. So it’s interesting that hidden/missing fathers are often associated in some way with Neptune in watery houses. Given that, Paula’s 4th house Neptune as (Marjorie points out makes sense).
That’s very intriguing VF. And perhaps it also connects with the Nodes in some way I haven’t worked out. I don’t have birth chart info for my two friends who were adopted children unfortunately. Another friend was lied to about their biological birth father until they were an adult. It was a big shock for them, so I really do understand Paula Yates reaction, made worse at the time by deep grief too. Her Moon/Uranus aspect might suggest an erratic mother too.
Some family patterns seem more intense than others – this one seems quite dark. Very sad for everyone involved, and continued with the tragic death of Peaches Geldof – Moon in Gemini quincunx Pluto in Scorpio, and Neptune conjunct Saturn and Uranus in Capricorn.