Diana, Princess of Wales (1961 – 1997)

The 20 year commemoration of her death

 Diana is probably the most photographed woman and style icon there has ever been in the world, and acres of material have been written about her.  Unprecedented tears were shed at her death, and this year at the 20th anniversary of her death on 31st August, it’s a chance for us to re-evaluate how we feel.

Birth Chart

Diana had all the textbook traits of  her Sun in Cancer: shyness, emotionality, maternal qualities, and a special fondness for children.  The Sun in her chart was placed in 7th House, emphasizing the importance of her marriage.  Great sensitivity, a mystical bent, plus a talent for dance, were added to this Sun by a trine from Neptune.  She had a special healing Grand Trine in the Water element, consisting of Sun/Mercury, Chiron and Neptune.  Shaking hands with AIDS patients at a time when it was unheard of comes to mind with this. In her own words: “HIV does not make people dangerous to know. You can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it. What’s more, you can share their homes, their workplaces, and their playgrounds and toys.”  Her Moon was exactly square Venus, which can indicate friction with other women, and/or disharmony between the women in her life.  That brings to mind her frustrated relationship with her mother and stepmother, and her rivalry with Camilla Parker-Bowles.  Her ruler the Moon was opposite Mars/Uranus, showing sudden emotional outbursts, and this aspect may be connected to the purging in her eating disorders, as well as her reputation for emotional manipulation.  The Moon trine Midheaven shows that she had the personal touch and got on well with the general public.  Intriguingly, the Moon in her chart was conjunct  the South Node in Aquarius.  This indicates strong past life habits brought forward in this lifetime, and the Moon in karmic astrology often equates with Africa.  Thus, she may have had a lifetime or lifetimes with Prince Harry in his “second home”, Botswana.  Her North Node in Leo conjunct the royal fixed star Regulus indicates a destiny connected with royalty.  Mars conjunct Pluto in Virgo gave her a powerhouse of energy when harnessed through work. Mars/Pluto were also conjunct the North Node, showing up the brave Warrior Archetype – who can forget the image of her walking through an Angolan minefield wearing a ballistic helmet and flak jacket?

Diana’s Relationships: Principal Players

Prince Charles: Charles and Diana’s Suns may have been in the compatible Water signs of Cancer and Scorpio, but Camilla’s Sun was almostly exactly trine that of Charles, whereas Diana’s was in a different decanate of Cancer.  Diana famously stated that there were three of them in her marriage, making it crowded.  This was her tragedy, and much of her unhappiness stemmed from Charles’ relationship with Camilla.  Charles and Camilla may be soul mates or twin souls, but karmically Diana was damaged more than anybody by the “false” marriage.  Charles now has his Camilla, but it seems likely that there will be consequences in their next incarnation, though we are not in a position to judge.

The Queen: The Queen has a strong personal karmic tie with Diana, indicated by her Sun exactly trine Diana’s North Node.  Diana’s personal status was elevated by her connection with the Queen (from the Queen’s Jupiter trine Diana’s Midheaven).  Some coldness between them may be shown from the Queen’s Saturn opposing Diana’s Moon, which keys into a T-square in Diana’s chart.

Prince William: Again, they have a karmic tie, as you would expect to find, consisting of William’s Sun and Jupiter sextile Diana’s North Node.  He has particularly taken to heart the lessons of her sensitivity, with his Neptune sextile her Moon, and his Pluto trine her Moon.

Prince Harry: Harry’s interaspects with Diana emphasize the impact of her death, with her Pluto on his Mercury.  That impacts his mind profoundly, and he has stated that he blocked out a great deal of grief for many years: “I sought counselling after 20 years of not thinking about the death of my mother, Diana”.  His Pluto also sextiles her North Node, with is a deep karmic connection, and again emphasizes the role of her death in shaping his life.

The Engagement

Looking at the astrological influences around the time of the engagement of Prince Charles and Diana, we find a bittersweet Jupiter/Saturn square to her Sun.  There seems to be an element of compulsion in events for her at that time, especially with Uranus square her Nodal Axis.  On the plus side, Neptune was sextile her Moon and Pluto was trine her Moon.  For Charles there is an absence of major transits, which is intriguing in the light of his comment at that time “Whatever love means”: part of him may have been absent or disengaged.

The Wedding

Did the transits at the time of their wedding reveal more about their relationship?  On the day, there was an exact conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in Libra, again bittersweet, which significantly keyed into Charles’ Ascendant in Leo.  Jupiter was trine her natal Jupiter in Aquarius in 2nd House, elevating her wealth status.  Saturn was trine her natal Jupiter, shaping the discipline of her new role.  Chiron was opposite Charles’s Sun, bringing up a wound for him.  Pluto was also sextile his Mars, giving him courage for such a bold commitment in his life.

The Separation

They separated on 9th December 1992, under the early ’90s complicated conjunction of Uranus and Neptune in Capricorn which brought the winds of change.  It was also a total lunar eclipse, with the Sun conjunct Diana’s Ascendant in Sagittarius.  The impact on the monarchy was foretold in a book before Diana met Charles by Astrologer Roger Elliot in 1977 (“Astrology and the Royal Family”).  Looking ahead to 1992, he wrote:

“This is the crucial year for the Prince of Wales and, by implication, the whole Royal family He will undergo a deep and important change, due to Pluto moving from a square aspect at birth to an exact conjunction with his Sun”

The Queen in her “Annus Horribilis” speech of 1992 stated: “1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure.”

Jonathan Dimbleby interviews Charles

In 1992, Andrew Morton had written an expose of their relationship in “Diana: Her True Story”, and on 29th June 1994 Charles tried to rebalance the story by giving a television interview to Jonathan Dimbleby.  At the time, Neptune was sextile his Sun (a spiritual recalibration), the North Node was on his Sun (a karmic expression), Jupiter was sextile his Saturn (a damage limitation exercise), Chiron was on his Saturn (not inconsiderable pain), and Jupiter was square his Ascendant (a risk venture which might be cathartic).

Martin Bashir interviews Diana

On 20th November 1995, it was Diana’s turn to say her piece.  She memorably aspired to be “Queen of people’s hearts”.  Mars was trine her Uranus at the time (a bold move) and sextile her Midheaven (taking control of her life), but other transits were not so kind: Saturn was square her Ascendant (a difficult time), Uranus was conjunct her Saturn (more difficulty), Neptune was square her Midheaven (she was still at sea in terms of her direction) and Pluto was square her Nodal Axis (a long term transit which was still in operation at the actual time of her divorce).

The Divorce

They were divorced on 28th August 1996.  Mars was square her Midheaven (a decisive action), Jupiter was sextile her Neptune (bringing her more peace and spiritual freedom), but Pluto was square her Nodal Axis (a karmic rupture).  For Charles, Mars was trine his Sun (also a decisive action), Jupiter sextile his Mercury (a welcome document), Saturn trined his Ascendant (striking out on his own again), and Uranus squared his Moon (estrangement with a female, literally).

Life and Work after Charles

The divorce was a bitter one, and though Diana held a great deal of anger, as expressed in her public interviews, she did try to rebuild her life and remould her image to create something worthwhile.  She had supported 100 charities, but concentrated on six for the rest of her life, giving her total commitment to them.  In her favour, she had immense personal charisma and the devotion of the public (to a great extent), and she used them to her advantage.  She particularly worked on behalf of the disenfranchised in society, being a great admirer of Mother Theresa (who died in close proximity). She also befriended Nelson Mandela, who said of her after her death: “When she stroked the limbs of someone with leprosy or sat on the bed of a man with HIV/AIDS and held his hand, she transformed public attitudes and improved the life chances of such people”.  Her work on campaigning for the relief of suffering caused by landmines bore real fruit after her death – later in the year 1997 the International Campaign to Ban Landmines won the Nobel Peace Prize.  Prince Harry continues her work in this sphere.

Diana’s Relationships: Secondary Players

Earl Spencer: Diana’s brother Viscount Spencer had Moon conjunct NN in Virgo, which may symbolize the importance for him of his Moon-ruled sister.  There may have been pain in their relationship, with her Pluto opposite his Venus, and her Chiron on his Venus.  But the poignancy of his speech at her funeral was just what was needed, someone who knew her well speaking up for her.  I remember at one significant point a burst of sunlight entering through the windows at Westminster Abbey.  It was probably the role of his life.

James Hewitt:  The synastry between Diana and James Hewitt, with whom she had an affair, is stunning, and shows a really strong connection.  Their Suns and Venuses were exactly sextile (almost as strong as the connection between Charles and Camilla), his Jupiter was trine her Moon, his Saturn sextiled her Moon, his Neptune trined her Mercury, and his North Node sextiled her Mars (a karmic affair).  Their Marses were however exactly opposed, which may have been the fly in the ointment.  But the overall synastry is outstanding.

Paul Burrell: Paul Burrell, her faithful servant, was recently shown on our television screens in therapy, being advised to let go of his attachment to Diana.  This relationship has kept him in the public eye, and earned him hard cash through books and reality TV appearances, but there is no doubting their closeness.  He literally was her right hand man.  His Venus was sextile her Chiron and trine her Uranus, his Saturn was sextile her Midheaven (“A Royal Duty” was the title of one of his books), significantly his Neptune was trine her Mercury (a spiritual link with her mind) and sextile her Mars (physically tuned in as well), and his Pluto was conjunct her North Node (a profound role in her life, and after death they were also linked – he often felt her presence).

Hasnat Khan: Hasnat Khan the surgeon, a secret love, was reported to have been the love of her life, and the relationship apparently ended just before she holidayed with Dodi Fayed in the last episode of her life.  His Mercury trine her NorthNode, so he was a teacher to her.  His Venus was on her Moon, bringing great love and affection.  Their Suns and Venuses were in square, which may be the reason it didn’t work out for them.  His Neptune trined her Mercury, as with Paul Burrell, and his Pluto was conjunct her NorthNode like Burrell’s (Khan and Burrell were born in the same year).

Dodi Fayed: Diana had a brief affair at the end of her life with Dodi Fayed, the son of the wealthy Mohammed Al-Fayed, who provided a yacht the Jonikal for them in the South of France.  This was not a good match astrologically or fatewise.  His Sun was sextile her Moon, but their Marses were closely square, introducing an element of danger or recklessness between them.  There will have been some magnetism from his Uranus sextile her Venus, and his Uranus square her Midheaven hints at disruption to her life.  His Pluto opposed her Moon, which can be a fateful combination, and his Pluto squared her Venus (so the relationship was not likely to last).

Death of the Princess

We all know how this story ended, in a tunnel in Paris.  The conjunction of Mars-Pluto in her 9th House of Foreign Lands seems to symbolize this.  I don’t personally go with all the conspiracy theories: for me it is enough evidence that the paparazzi hounded her to death – anything for a photo.  Her transits at the time included Uranus on her Jupiter and Neptune on her Saturn, both in her 2nd House (the relationship with the material).  Dodi Fayed’s transits included the extreme danger of Pluto opposite his Mars.  Who knows what the karma around the event was?  Uranus was opposing Charles’ Ascendant, a disruption in a close relationship.  For the 15-year old Prince William, Chiron was on his Jupiter, a wounding to his outlook on life which he has grown through admirably over the years.  Harry had Chiron on his Pluto, a severe wound: he too has grown, though he has had a different journey from William.  The Queen had Chiron opposite her Sun, a challenge to her Inner Healer.

She had her detractors, but there is no doubt that the outpouring of emotion at Diana’s death showed that she had achieved her aspiration to be the Queen of people’s hearts.

Aspects

Today Mars conjuncts the North Node in Leo (coincidentally the same combination as in Lady Diana’s birth chart).  This brings out the dignity of our own Inner Warrior, and the practice of asserting this in the most constructive way we can understand at this time.  It depends where you are with your own Inner Warrior…you may be in denial that you have one at all, you may be working on being a peaceful warrior or a warrior on behalf of women’s rights.  With Mars conjunct the North Node, we see the karmic results of our actions straight away, giving us the wisdom of knowing, instant-karma style, whether or not we are doing things the right way and learning the right lessons, including the way to conduct our Inner Warrior.

We also have today the most important astrological feature of the week, Jupiter sextile Saturn.  This is a chance to balance our actions and wisdom, between caution and adventurousness, realism and optimism.  This aspect may be a godsend to Librans trying to make up their minds, as they have permission to sit on the fence and see both sides of the story with confidence.  As it is such an important aspect, you may feel its influence all through the week.

On Thursday (31st), Mercury retrograde re-enters Leo from Virgo.  You may take a break from some recent paperwork, to enjoy some late summer holiday revelries.  Bear in mind that the paperwork may still be waiting for you and you won’t be able to forget it entirely (!), but until 10th September (when Mercury re-enters Virgo)  there is still a lot of scope for letting your hair down before you get stuck into Autumn work schedules.

Saturday (2nd September) brings a dynamic trine between Mars and Uranus, a green light for many things, but especially favouring engineering, mechanics and engineers, energetic and electrical connections.  Sparks should fly, but in a good way!

An advance portion of Next Week’s Aspects

As I will be away at a wedding on Sunday (3rd September) and will write the next blog on Monday (4th) I am briefly covering Sunday’s aspect, which I will repeat or embellish later.  This is Mercury conjunct Mars, an incisive aspect which produces sharp words, incisive speech, critical expertise and analysis, and brisk mental and physical action and co-ordination, with a need to be alert to possible minor cuts and bruises.  This is of special application to Geminis, Virgos and Aries people.

The week in bullet points:

  • Today – Honing your Inner Warrior, and balancing your life and psyche for the week
  • Thursday – more fun
  • Saturday – energetic and dynamic