Princess Diana – a charismatic enigma

The day that shook a nation, with stiff upper lip disintegrating under an avalanche of flowers, teddy bears and tears is being remembered 20 years on. Princes Diana died on 31 August 1997, one day before a Virgo Solar Eclipse in a Saros series which is associated with illness or accidents and is given to obsessive worry. There was an unprecedented outpouring of grief in Britain and around the world. An estimated 2 billion people watched her funeral on television on 7 September.

The novelist Hillary Mantel writes today in a deeply thoughtful piece about the Diana phenomenon: ‘The princess we invented to fill a vacancy had little to do with any actual person.’ ‘She no longer exists as herself, only as what we made of her. Her story is archaic and transpersonal. “It is as if,” said the psychotherapist Warren Colman, “Diana broadcast on an archetypal frequency.” (URL below)

Diana was born 1 July 1961 7.45pm (from memory) Sandringham, England. Her Cancer Sun was exactly conjunct the UK 1801 midheaven, which partly explains her significance for the country. Her lively, mischievous Aquarius Moon fell in the UK 5^th house of entertainment and children; her pleasure-loving and affectionate Venus fell in the UK 8^th house touching a deep chord; with her rebellious Uranus conjunct the UK 11^th house Saturn setting her against the staid establishment.

When she died tr Pluto was in a heavy, destructive square to her Solar Arc Saturn, and oddly tr Jupiter was opposition her Solar Arc Sun, and tr Uranus was exactly conjunct her Jupiter which usually brings relief.

The UK chart was rattled with tr Saturn in Aries exactly square the 10^th house Moon in Cancer, which signifies the ruling classes, as the country mourned their fairy princess and turned against the Queen. Quite unfairly since she was only trying to protect the young princes from the voracious mob’s need to gawp.

It was a seminal moment for the Queen, as tr Saturn squared her dutiful 6^th house North Node in Cancer and tr Uranus was conjunct her Solar Arc MC, as she struggled to cope with the pressures of 24 hour rolling news hyping up the mood, and subjects desperate to be part of the reality show.

Prince Charles looked devastated and discouraged, with tr Pluto conjunct his Solar Arc Neptune, tr Saturn just into his 10^th which often brings chickens home to roost, and tr Uranus exactly on his Descendant.

Prince Harry, as he explained recently, withdrew into himself, with his Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his secretive Saturn in Scorpio; tr Neptune exactly on his Ascendant beginning a decade plus of confusion about his identity; and tr Pluto heading to oppose his Solar Arc Moon, burying his feelings.

Prince William grieved his loss with tr Saturn square his Solar Arc Moon exactly, and his Solar Arc Saturn moving to conjunct his Jupiter and midheaven in coming months and the following year, which would bring on depression.

Eclipses are, not surprisingly for times of symbolic importance in the zeitgeist, woven into the royals’ lives. Charles and Diana married two days before the 1 North Leo eclipse of 31 July 1981 in a Saros series not seen as a luck-bringer, putting pressure on personal relationships; hasty decisions are advised against since information is distorted and possibly false; health problems are associated with it. That’s the same series as this August’s Eclipse. The following year Prince William was born on the day of a Cancer solar eclipse. This series is challenging, dealing with separations or the ending of a union.

In the 1 North series which oversaw Diana’s death: On the previous occasion in 1979, just five days before the eclipse Earl Mountbatten, the Queen’s uncle, was killed by an IRA bomb in Ireland. Rolling back one in this series to 1961, the Leo solar eclipse was the closest to the birth of Lady Diana Spencer (in July). Back two cycles in 1925, the eclipse was nearest to Maggie Thatcher’s birth in the October of that year.

Through 2017 and 2018 tr Pluto is opposing the UK’s 10^th house Moon, so again stirring intense emotions and strong reactions.

For all her flaws Diana was an extraordinary figure. Her chart, although not pass remarkable at first glance, at a deeper level reveals hidden abilities. Her super-star 22^nd is exceptionally strong; as is her humanitarian and indulgent 9H. Her leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H is well aspected, as if her healer/victim’s 12H; and her wheel-of-fortune, rise and fall 10H.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/26/the-princess-myth-hilary-mantel-on-diana