Henri Paul: the Fatal Driver
Zip Dobyns
Thanks to Françoise Gauquelin, I received the official birth time of Henri Paul from the registrar of his home town, Lorient, France. As reported in the Virgo 1997 issue of The Mutable Dilemma, in the article about the death of Princess Diana, Paul was the driver of the car in which Diana and Dodi Fayed were killed. Paul was born on July 3, 1956 at 1 A.M. He died instantly in the crash in Paris on August 31, 1997 about 25 minutes after midnight.
As I reported in the Virgo 1997 Mutable Dilemma, Paul was a former naval officer who had worked for 11 years for the Ritz Hotel which was owned by Dodi’s father. He reportedly had formerly had some problems with alcohol. The Paris police report claimed that his autopsy showed a high alcohol content in his blood, but witnesses said he showed no signs of a problem prior to the fatal crash. Paul was unmarried and former friends said that he had recently been hit hard by a broken relationship.
Since his birth time was unknown, I just listed a variety of aspects involving planets and asteroids in the previous article on Paul. At this time, I will focus on the Moon aspects and the angles and other time-dependent factors like the Part of Death. The correctly timed chart supports the freedom-closeness dilemma which is normally present for someone who has reached age 40 without marriage and who is involved in off-again-on-again relationships. Paul’s angles, which signify what we do naturally from the beginning of life, are all in Aries: Antivertex, East Point, and Ascendant. Also, they square the Sun in Cancer and Juno in Capricorn. All the relationship signs and houses are occupied: Cancer, Leo, Libra, and Scorpio, 4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th. Vesta and Saturn in Scorpio, as well as in partnership houses, are usually an indication of lessons in personal relationships. The T-square of Moon-Uranus-Vesta in fixed signs but mostly cardinal houses repeats the freedom-closeness and power issues. Sometimes, when an individual is unable to resolve inner conflicts, the subconscious simply opts out. Most of the time, in a conflict between the conscious and subconscious sides of the mind, the subconscious habits determine the outcome.
Paul’s birth time puts his P south node of Mars exactly on his Descendant, carrying the same message as having Mars (the personal life force) opposite the Ascendant. P Venus, a 1st house ruler since part of Taurus is in the 1st house, is on the IC along with P Hel while the P 8th house cusp and P Juno are on the MC. Both the IC and the 8th cusp are keys to endings, with death as one of many potentials. To repeat the theme, Paul’s Paris P 8th cusp is on his Paris MC and they square Hela and Paula in 11 Libra. P Part of Death in 6 Leo is conjunct Atlantis and octile P Diana and N Paulina. Paul’s Paris P Part of Death in 18 Leo is conjunct N Charlois (Charles), opposite P Henry, and the P Moon completes a T-square. P Atlantis is conjunct P Sun and P Brita (England). Most readers will remember that Atlantis is often featured in situations involving power struggles or the abuse of power. In addition to the octiles formed by P Diana already mentioned, it is trioctile P Damocles, P Bacchus, and P Libitina, and octile P Attila. This combination includes a death goddess (Libitina), a sword hanging over the head (Damocles), a ruthless conqueror (Attila), and an association with drugs and/or alcohol (Bacchus).
Other time-sensitive factors include Paul’s Paris P Ascendant conjunct P north node of Mars in 24 Gemini trioctile his natal Part of Death in 9 Scorpio, square P Mars, and square the midpoint of natal Paulina and Paul which are in 22 and 26 Virgo. Pluto continued to hold a very long quincunx to Paul’s Paris Ascendant in 27 Aries 48, and natal Saturn turned the aspect into a yod, reinforcing the tendency to pull apart in personal relationships. Paul’s birthplace P Ascendant in 17 Gemini had been quincunx Juno, octile natal Moon, and trioctile natal Vesta when his previous relationship ended. It was octile the midpoint of natal and P Uranus for his accident and death. There is always more, but we will end with Paul’s natal and P midpoint of Saturn/south lunar node conjunct his natal Diana all his life.