Princess Ira – a salutary Saturnine tale

 Princess Ira von Furstenberg who has died, a niece of Gianni Agnelli of Fiat fame,  glided through a life of obscene wealth, a shining light of European high society, who at 20 had already been married to two of the 20th century’s most notorious playboys, Prince Alfonso von Hohenlohe, who invented the resort of Marbella and the Brazilian industrialist Francesco “Baby” Pignatari. The marriages failed and on she sailed the epitome of the jet set.

  Her first marriage at 15 when she married von Hohenlohe, 31 lasted five years after which she opted for the 44-year-old Pignatari. When that marriage she collapsed she gave up on matrimony though she did flirt with the idea of Prince Rainier of Monaco after Grace Kelly died. She went on to become a B movie actress in a string of sex kitten roles which fitted her promiscuous Venus Mars conjunction in Gemini.

  She was born 18 April 1940 5.55pm Rome, Italy with hints of her opulent lifestyle from a Sun Jupiter in Aries inconjunct Neptune. But in complete contrast, the underside of the Midas touch was her Sun conjunct Saturn square a 10th house Pluto. Both blessed and cursed. Over burdened with the trappings of money with houses in Mayfair, Madrid, Lake Geneva, Rome and Paris but deprived of human reassurance and warmth.

  Her mother Clara Agnelli, 7 April 1920, ran away when the young Ira was 12 with an Italian count, which caused a scandal since adultery was a crime. She had the same astro-mix as her daughter with a feather-bedded Jupiter Neptune conjunction square Mars. But that sat alongside a harsh Uranus trine Pluto trine Mars with Uranus opposition Saturn – making Saturn the driving planet. Her Saturn in Virgo was conjunct her daughter’s Virgo Moon and square Ira’s Venus Mars – not a happy connection.

 The Agnellis are in the news for another reason at the moment with John Elkann, 1 April 1976, the named successor of the Agnelli billions after his grandfather Gianni died two decades back, duking it out in court with his mother Margherita.  Margherita, 26 September 1955 8.14 am Lausanne, is a charming Sun Venus in Libra with a ferociously determined Jupiter Pluto in Leo square Saturn in Scorpio.  But she is well matched by her son John who has an Aries Sun opposition Pluto square Mars – controlling, competitive and not one to give way under any pressure.

  The curse of Succession – the Rothschilds, the Guinness family. Less can be more when it comes to happiness. Rich may be better than poor, but too much filthy lucre and it turns toxic.

8 thoughts on “Princess Ira – a salutary Saturnine tale

  1. I was looking at that 7th house.

    Sun in the 7th should mean – needs a partner to be complete.

    Jupiter in the 7th – lots of marriages. Or maybe luck, but also exaggerations (Jupiter) about official, long-term partnerships (7th house).

    But then, Saturn in the 7th – lots of stops, delays, frustrations about all of that. And in the end, probably that what happened: a stop (Saturn) on marriages (7th house).

    Early marriage could be because the ruler of the 7th, Mars, is in the sign of young people (Gemini) and also there is something youthful and playful, butteflyish, about Venus in that sign as well.

    “Her Saturn in Virgo was conjunct her daughter’s Virgo Moon and square Ira’s Venus Mars – not a happy connection.”

    And in fact, Ira’s Moon squares the Venus–Mars conjunction.

    • That might be because of her Pluto, in Leo, in the 10th house. I can’t really explain why I think that nor can I now synthesize the meaning fully at the moment of that position.

    • This is froma Vedic site (which doesn’t use Pluto, but here it goes):

      “Pluto in the tenth house gives power over large masses, popularity, fatal influence, great ambition, magnetism and often problems in relationship to father.”

      I was going to say with the mother, as yet another signifier of Ira’s complicated relationship with one of her parents.

      Kim Kardashian and Eminem are two other examples of this placement.

  2. Funny how in John Elkann’s case mother can be either well-aspected (Moon, in Taurus, conjunct Jupiter) or, which might fit this tale, not that well – hurting signified by possible Moon–Chiron conjunction.

  3. I must say the news in the Spanish press about her passing is the first time I heard about her.

    The astrology is very literal: larger-than-life character (Sun conjunct Jupiter), beauty, pretty things, carefree, maybe even lazyish, gilded lifen (Libra ascendant), you mention the Venus–Mars conjunction as another notable signifier.

    On the other hand, we have that Moon in Virgo, which can sometimes be not an easy place for a Moon.

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