The People’s Princess
Zip Dobyns
She did not have much time to enjoy her freedom after her divorce from Prince Charles, the legal heir to the British throne. Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997. Some reports give 0:35 A.M. as the time of the crash, but the Los Angeles Times says that it occurred soon after 0:20, since the first phone call to the authorities was at 0:27 A.M. Other media sources give 0:25 A.M. as the crash time. Paris time is one hour later than UT (GMT).
Diana and her new romance, Egyptian Dodi Fayed, had been vacationing together. After a late dinner at the Ritz hotel, which is owned by Dodi’s father, their regular driver was sent out to try to decoy the usual pack of photographers who were waiting outside the hotel and another driver who had gone off duty at 7:05 that evening was asked to take them to their destination. Reportedly, Henri Paul, the new driver, was drunk, with over three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood in addition to traces of drugs for depression. He tried to outrun the photographers, driving up to 121 miles an hour, and crashed in a tunnel near the river Seine. Dodi and the driver were killed in the crash. It took over an hour and a half to pry Diana and a bodyguard from the wreckage and get them to a hospital by which time Diana was in cardiac arrest. Some reports say that she actually died before being removed from the car, was briefly resuscitated by medical efforts, but at the hospital, though they tried for two hours to re-start her heart, it proved impossible and Diana was pronounced dead at 4 A.M. The bodyguard was in critical condition, but he is recovering. Unfortunately, when finally able to talk to the police, he could not remember any details about the crash.
At least seven French photographers were being investigated to determine whether they were partly to blame for the accident or for failing to offer assistance afterwards or even interfering with the efforts of doctors and police. As this is written in mid-September, there seems to be enough blame to go around. Three blood tests confirmed the driver’s blood alcohol level to have been high enough to impair judgment. But he would not have been driving if the photographers had not been outside the hotel lying in wait. If Diana had been less frustrated by the constant invasion of her privacy, she could have simply let them follow her to Dodi’s Paris apartment. The car is said to have had tinted windows, so pictures would only be feasible when she left it to enter the apartment with Dodi. A former driver for Dodi stated that the latter might well have told Paul to try to outrun the photographers. Dodi was reported to be a daredevil in cars and boats. The surviving bodyguard is the only passenger in the car who was wearing a seat belt. Diana was behind him in the back seat and a seat belt might have saved her life. Dodi’s father, Mohammed Al Fayed, was encouraging the romance between Diana and his son. He was bitter that he had been denied British citizenship despite living in the country for many years. To have his son the stepfather of the future king of England would have been sweet revenge for his treatment by some of the English elite. The tragic result reminded me of Joe Kennedy’s pressure on his sons to win political power, only to see them assassinated. The photographers pursued Diana because tabloid newspapers paid large sums for pictures of her and the tabloids paid such sums because they sold papers, so all of us who bought the papers and magazines must share the karma.
A great deal more might be written, but I’m sure that all of our readers have been exposed to the media blitz which is still underway two weeks after the tragic event. Our major challenge is to find the astrological correlates in the charts of the victims, including Diana’s two sons and Prince Charles, her former husband. We have firm data for the latter three: Charles, William, and Harry. Unfortunately, we have two possible birth times for Diana and none for Dodi and Henri Paul. But, as our readers know by now, I can’t resist exploring speculative charts. Putting the planets on the wheel lets us see the aspects more clearly even though we can’t rely on the house positions or the degree of the Moon. Of course, we can always check the asteroids, since most of them move slowly enough to be accurate within one degree when we have the birth date.
We have had several articles about various members of England’s royal family in past issues of The Mutable Dilemma. In the Sagittarius 1991 issue, I briefly discussed the horoscope of Prince Charles while reviewing a book claiming to reinterpret the prophecies of Nostradamus. So far, the author of the book is batting zero in her predictions, one of which was that Charles would be crowned king of England on May 2, 1992. In our Sagittarius 1992 Mutable Dilemma I wrote about Queen Elizabeth and the Pisces 1993 Mutable Dilemma had an article about Princess Diana, using the “official” birth time for her which was given out by the palace. The Virgo 1993 Mutable Dilemma had the chart of Camilla Parker Bowles, the long-time mistress of Charles who played a major role in the break-up of the marriage of Diana and Charles, and the Pisces 1995 Mutable Dilemma discussed an alternate birth time for Diana. The “new” time came from Diana’s mother, but was published in a book by Penny Thornton, who had worked as an astrological consultant for Diana from the spring of 1986 to the spring of 1992. Diana’s mother said that Diana was born “just before the start of play at Wimbledon—a little after 2 P.M.” The date was July 1, 1961 in Sandringham, England.
Both the chart for 19:45 from the palace and one for 14:02 from Diana’s mother have appropriate aspects for her death, and the earlier Libra rising chart will appeal to astrologers who see Saturn as ultimate doom. It is especially dramatic when it is calculated for Paris, where Diana died. As I have written repeatedly, when they have major aspects, the local house cusps are just as important as the cusps for the birth place. Even though the angles are only two degrees higher in Paris than in Sandringham, that small difference for the 2:02 P.M. chart put transiting Saturn exactly on the Descendant and P Saturn exactly on the IC in Paris. Solar arc directed Saturn in 2 Pisces was still in a one-degree orb opposition to natal Mars and a trioctile to this chart’s natal Ascendant. Astrology can give a message in so many ways, and this chart offers a dramatic example, which could be a case study for Saturn. The planetary nodes, where the planet’s orbit crosses the plane of the earth’s orbit, provide two additional keys to the same principle as the planet and its sign and its house in the natural zodiac. Diana’s natal south node of Saturn was in 25 Capricorn to reinforce this chart’s Paris IC and P Saturn. Her P north node of Saturn was in 25 Cancer on the Paris MC. The MC is, of course, another statement of the Saturn principle. Saturn symbolizes laws, natural and cultural, and the consequences of how we are handling them. Speed limits, seat belts, and emotional reactions to the consequences of fame are a few of the variables. If we listed all the available techniques in astrology plus all of the relevant asteroids, it would be possible to write a whole book about a single chart, but it would be too boring to read, so I can only pick out a few of the dramatic examples. Using this birth time, Diana’s East Point (an auxiliary Ascendant) was in 27 Libra square her natal Saturn. Her P Part of Death was conjunct her Paris East Point in 29 Libra as well as square her P Jupiter in 0 Aquarius. Her local P Part of Death in 7 Scorpio was trioctile P Moon and the P north node of Mars which were conjunct in 21 to 22 Gemini. These positions for the Part of Death are calculated with Placidus houses. Diana’s P 8th house cusp was conjunct the natal north node of Mars, which was in 9 Gemini, and it was octile her Paris MC and trioctile P Saturn. In addition to the planetary nodes, the midpoints between each pair of planets provide different ways to symbolize the same principle. Midpoints are similar to a conjunction between the planets—less intense but carrying the same meaning. I have written repeatedly about the importance of the midpoint of Saturn/south lunar node, and Saturn/north lunar node is also important. They are keys to major lesson and growth areas. Diana’s Saturn/south node in 13 Aquarius 47 and her Saturn/north node in 13 Scorpio 0 were connected to her Paris Antivertex (an auxiliary Ascendant) in 14 Scorpio 16, her Mars/Saturn midpoint in 14 Scorpio 40, and natal Diana in 15 Scorpio 19 with overlapping orbs. This birth time puts Diana’s P Sun at death in 13 Leo 59 to form a T-square to the configuration. Natal Vesta in 13 Taurus 14 completed a fixed cross. Vesta is our super-Virgo key to work and health. In the eighth house, it often warns of problems in close relationships, either from a displacement of the critical attitude from the job into the relationship, or from either or both individuals neglecting the relationship due to being too involved in other matters which are more important to them. Diana’s P Sun was also quincunx her natal Part of Death in Paris, which was at 14 Capricorn 28. P Sun also squared her P Ascendant in Paris in 14 Scorpio, and it was conjunct her natal Williams (for her oldest son), Amor (for the love she thought she had found with Dodi), plus it opposed natal Damocles (for the sword hanging over the head). Her P MC in Paris was conjunct P Williams in 29 Leo and it had just reached the quincunx to P Jupiter. Her P Ascendant from her birthplace was conjunct P Saturn/north node and square P Saturn/south node.
Among the asteroids we expect to be featured are the ones named for relevant geographic areas. In addition to Paris, another asteroid is named Lutetia for an early name for the city. There is also Gallia for the country, France. Natal Paris was just over one degree beyond natal Diana, but P Diana had caught up to P Paris while P Atlantis (often associated with the abuse of power) was conjunct both natal Diana and natal Paris. In this case, Diana was a victim of Paul’s driving the car 120 miles an hour in city streets. Natal Lutetia in 17 Libra was on Diana’s birth Ascendant while P Lutetia in 26 Libra was on her natal East Point for this birth time. Reportedly, Diana was very attracted to Paris and considered moving to France. Dodi’s father had purchased and was renovating the Paris villa in which the Duke and Duchess of Windsor had lived after he gave up the throne of England to marry a divorced American. The rumor was that the home was being prepared for Diana and Dodi. P Gallia in 18 Libra was on Diana’s natal Ascendant, while P Uranus held a long octile to natal Gallia in 10 Libra. The asteroid Brita, which was named for England, was also featured. Natal Brita was on Uranus and P Brita on P Pluto as the accident cost the life of the people’s princess.
The usual asteroids named for gods and goddesses of death were also aspected, but we have so many related charts to consider, I will just end by mentioning that Diana had her natal Photographica in a cluster with Psyche, Urania, and Justicia. The positive side of Psyche is a sensitive concern for the well-being of others while the negative expression is a self-absorbed self-pity which lacks awareness of the needs of others. Diana expressed both sides of Psyche: the self-pity and the empathy for others. Urania seems to symbolize a variation on Uranus, while Justicia was a goddess of justice. P Pluto held a long octile to all of these asteroids in 21 to 22 Cancer. P Photographica was in 10 Leo square Ceres (the mother asteroid) and Icarus (overreach and a crash) in Taurus and P Ascendant and P Saturn/north node in Scorpio, with P Saturn/south node completing a fixed cross. And, finally, P Charlois (the French version of Charles) was in 24 Libra opposite natal Henry (for Harry) in 24 Aries in a grand cross with P Saturn and Diana’s Paris MC and IC. As we will see, Dodi’s natal Sun was in 24 Aries with his own cardinal cross.
Despite the impressive aspects for this 2:02 P.M. chart, the latest information I have from Fran McEvoy in the Boston NCGR chapter is that before the end of her life, the palace, Diana’s mother, and Diana agreed that the 19:45 time was accurate. Studying both charts makes it clear that more than one chart can fit the character and life events of an individual. I have seen this repeatedly in the past when I tried to rectify charts, found a birth time which fit the person’s events, but then found that he or she was born at a different time which also fit. I had this experience when I worked with the chart of Cunanan, who is discussed in another article in this issue of The Mutable Dilemma. Before his birth time was obtained, I speculated that his final murder and suicide occurred with his P Moon on Saturn. When I received his recorded birth time from Lois Rodden, he had a close Moon-Saturn conjunction at birth rather than at death. Though transiting Saturn is less impressive in the later chart for Diana, it was quincunx her P Diana, and P Saturn aspected the Paris angles with a square to her Paris MC-IC axis instead of a conjunction/opposition. Since the planetary nodes move very slowly, especially the outer planet nodes, the natal south node of Saturn and its P north node squared Diana’s Paris MC-IC axis. Even more dramatically, Diana’s Quotidian MC was on P Saturn and its south node on the day of her death. Quotidian angles circle the whole wheel in a year so they move about one degree a day and can be used for precise timing. Aspects are limited to one-degree orbs for any type of progressions or directions, so quotidian angles only hold an aspect for about two days. Another highly appropriate aspect for this later birth time was P Mars square Diana’s natal Paris Ascendant in 24 Sagittarius 7. P Pallas opposed P Mars and also squared the Paris Ascendant, and for a dramatic support of this birth time, P Moon was exactly on the Paris Descendant along with P Libitina! Natal Fama (fame) was also in the mutable cross on the Paris Ascendant. If any event could make Diana more famous, her tragic death in Paris did as the whole world joined in the mourning.
Since so many asteroids were discussed in the preceding material on the earlier birth time, I will mostly focus on the angles in this section. The asteroids and planets (except for the Moon) are unchanged between the two versions, so the previously mentioned aspects between asteroids and planets are present in both charts. P Bacchus in 17 Virgo 37 squared Diana’s birthplace Ascendant in this later chart. Bacchus was the Roman name for Dionysus, so is associated with drunkenness. P Starr was quincunx this Ascendant in 18 Taurus, and P Osiris and P Vinifera in 17 Cancer produced a yod—a double quincunx. The yod is one of the strongest indications of separations and new directions in one’s life. Natal Starr in 3 Taurus was conjunct the Sun/Moon and trioctile the Ascendant. Diana was certainly a star but also very ambivalent at times about the costs of that role. This later birth time gives a Paris MC of 25 Libra 0, which connects it to an amazing network of aspects to the natal and progressed factors. P Charlois (Charles) was conjunct it and Diana’s death certainly put a spotlight on Prince Charles and his role as future king of England. P Charlois held squares to P Saturn, the south node of Saturn, and Diana’s Quotidian MC, and it was part of a yod from Charlois and the Paris MC to natal and P Pallas in Pisces and to natal Venus and P Vesta in Taurus. Natal Henry in 24 Aries and P Demeter in 25 Cancer completed a cardinal cross. Remember that the asteroid Henry can point to both Diana’s son Harry who lost his mother (IC) and to the driver of the car, Henri Paul, who also died in the crash.
Connected to this cardinal cross and the previously described mutable cross was a fixed sign cross with natal Venus-P Vesta, natal and P Uranus, the midpoint of the Ascendant/MC in Paris, and natal Moon. There were factors in 24 degrees, or close enough to have overlapping orbs, in every sign! Still other factors could be mentioned which were connected to this massive configuration. The natal Part of Death was 23 Taurus, P Ate was 23 Scorpio, and P East Point was 22 Aquarius 58, with natal Uranus in 23 Leo. Diana’s Paris Quotidian Antivertex in 23 Aries and her birthplace Quotidian Antivertex in 22 Aries were both on her IC on the day of the crash. P Ate was 23 Scorpio and P Klotho (a fate asteroid) was 23 Sagittarius while P Themis (divine justice) was 23 Pisces. P Paris East Point was 25 Aquarius. As usual, I found the secondary progressions more impressive that the transits, which had few aspects to that massive configuration in 23 to 25 degrees of all the signs. Charlois was retrograding just under 24 Capricorn and Gaea was in 23 Cancer, but the most striking aspects were transiting Moon and Diana’s P Sun on the IC, transiting Jupiter on the MC, and T Hel on the Ascendant at the crash. T Uranus was more widely square the Antivertex. For those who check the heliocentric positions of the planets, H Mars was exactly opposite the Ascendant.
We have not mentioned the asteroids for the last name of the driver. We have three variations: Paul, Paula, and Paulina. All had aspects and many were dramatic. P Williams was on natal Paul in 29 Leo and Diana’s P MC in Paris squared them from 29 Scorpio, along with P Siva in 0 Sagittarius. Natal Charlois in 14 Libra was at the midpoint of the factors in 29 Leo and 29 Scorpio. P Jupiter and the Paris P Ascendant were in 0 Aquarius, within orb of a quincunx to Paul and P Williams. I mentioned that T Saturn was quincunx P Diana, but it was also conjunct natal Paula in 19 Aries, while P Paula in 3 Taurus was on Starr and trioctile Diana’s natal Ascendant. P Paulina was at 13 Scorpio 58 conjunct Saturn/north node and square Saturn/south node and Diana’s P Sun. Vesta completed a grand cross. We will end with Photographica for the paparazzi who bugged Diana and certainly played a role in her tragic death. In discussing the earlier birth time for Diana, I mentioned that natal Photographica was conjunct Psyche and Urania. We can note that with this later birth time, Urania is in orb to form a square to Diana’s natal MC and they oppose her Paris East Point to form a cardinal cross including the IC. The T Sun at the crash was octile the group in 21 to 22 Cancer. P Photographica was at 10 Leo 50 where it squared and opposed the progressed midpoints of Saturn and the lunar nodes. With natal Ceres and Icarus, this produced another cross at 10 to 11 degrees of the fixed signs. 10 degrees in fixed signs is octile/trioctile 25 degrees in the mutable signs, so Diana’s P Moon and other factors were connected. If an astrologer who knew about the asteroids had been advising Diana, how should he or she have handled such patterns???
We have theoretically firm birth data for Princes William and Harry. They were born in Paddington, England. William was born on June 21, 1982 at 21:03 GDT. Harry was born on September 15, 1984 at 16:20 GDT. William’s attachment to his mother is obvious with his Sun and Moon conjunct in early Cancer on Diana’s Mercury, plus his Ceres, the mother asteroid, elevated in the 10th house. His great sensitivity is shown by the water sign emphasis in Cancer and Scorpio and also by Neptune just above his Ascendant in its own house. His attachment to his mother is repeated by Demeter, the Greek name for Ceres, in 25 Sagittarius so P Neptune holds a lifetime conjunction to it. His personal name asteroid, Williams, is at 11 Pisces 53, just missing a trine to Ceres, but P Williams and P Ceres were trine each other for years while P Ceres stays sextile/trine the P lunar nodes for many more years. William’s P Sun is conjunct the mean north lunar node, which can be a positive pattern, but its opposition to the south node shows the potential for separations in close relationships. P Sun is also conjunct several asteroids, but its classic aspect for the tragedy is its square to Saturn, while P Mars is conjunct Saturn. Horoscopes picture one’s psychological state, habitual emotional reactions as character becomes destiny. With P Mars on Saturn and P Sun square Saturn, Prince William is confronting the power of the world which even a future king cannot control. The numerous harmonious aspects in William’s chart speak to the ironic fact that this tragic loss of his mother at the age of 15 is simultaneously strengthening the likelihood that he will eventually be king. Though the British public have been increasingly dismayed by the scandals in the royal family, their love for Diana will add to their desire to see her son become king and will militate against the potential of the country becoming a republic and dispensing with the monarchy. Two polls conducted since Diana’s death have found over 70% of the British voting to maintain the monarchy. William’s P Jupiter holds a long trine to his natal Sun and it will eventually reach his MC, an appropriate aspect for his achievement of increased fame, power, and wealth. But in the meantime, during this Saturn period of some years, he will remain only too aware of the limits of his personal power.
The experience is clearly a test of William’s faith in a Higher Power with Saturn in the 9th house and P Mercury opposite his P Neptune and Demeter in Sagittarius in the 12th house. P Chiron’s quincunx to Neptune also points to an issue involving faith, and in time, Pluto will move into a quincunx to Chiron to form a yod. Part of this challenge will come through relationships as he will seek a mate to replace his mother. The Moon and its sign in the 7th house in addition to Ceres in Scorpio show that his mother will be his role model for a mate. The message is repeated with asteroid Diana in Libra with the sign connecting his mother to partnership and the 9th house position connecting her to ideals. William’s P Moon in 22 Capricorn when Diana died was square P Diana in 22 Libra and opposite P Paul, the name of the driver on the fatal trip. P Moon was also in a yod, quincunx natal Hel in 22 Gemini and the P Part of Death and natal Guernica, an asteroid associated with the death of innocents, in Leo. Both natal and P Brita (England) opposed the P Part of Death and Guernica from 21 to 22 Aquarius. The P Part of Death had been retrograding over natal Paris and was still just in orb. One more intriguing Moon conjunction was with natal Freud, hinting that William might need some psychotherapy to help him work through the loss of his mother.
William’s chart in Paris also had appropriate aspects to the angles. His MC there is 5 Scorpio 3, putting P Charlois square it from 4 Leo 50 and P Demeter in 20 Sagittarius octile the local MC and trioctile P Charlois. The latter also opposes William’s Paris Part of Death to complete a T-square with the Paris MC, and it is quincunx P Osiris, an Egyptian god associated with death. William’s Paris Ascendant at 2 Capricorn 45 is closely conjunct his natal Juno, a Plutonian asteroid, while P Juno retrograding in 29 Sagittarius opposes his natal Sun and Dionysus. Dionysus was associated with drugs and drunkenness, which theoretically impaired the skill and/or the judgment of the driver. P Dionysus was within one minute of the one degree orb I use for aspects to the new asteroids, just reaching a conjunction with William’s Moon. Other asteroids clustered around the Descendant included P Hel (a death goddess) on the Descendant and P Nemesis opposite Neptune.
Another dramatic cluster of asteroids involved Uranus and William’s Paris Ascendant/MC. A conjunction with the midpoint of these two primary angles is similar to having the planet or asteroid on both angles. Natal Dolores (sorrow) was on this midpoint in Paris within 3 minutes of longitude and connected to it with overlapping orbs were Ate and Photographica in 2 Sagittarius. Ate was the only Greek goddess who was considered almost totally evil. All three asteroids had retrograded to conjunct Uranus within one degree and P Dolores was still octile William’s P Paris Ascendant. P Uranus, Ate, and Photographica were all within a one-degree trioctile to natal Paul, the car driver. The combination is a graphic picture of one of William’s major challenges. Reportedly, he hates photographers, having seen his mother repeatedly reduced to tears by their constant pursuit and invasion of personal privacy. Yet, as a celebrity, William will have to learn to deal with them.
Other aspects included P Ceres opposed to P Urania and P Retsina. The latter asteroid was named for a variety of wine. Both natal and P Hela, another asteroid named for the Norse death goddess, were in 0 Aquarius conjunct William’s Paris East Point, square Jupiter, and quincunx his natal Sun. P Libitina, the Roman death goddess, was on P Venus quincunx P Ceres while P Paul was octile natal Libitina in 7 Gemini. Though the P Moon had just left a trioctile to Libitina, it was connected through overlapping aspects involving other factors. The driver’s first name was Henri, so the asteroid Henry can symbolize both the driver and William’s brother, Prince Harry. Natal Henry was conjunct Fortuna (representing fate rather than fortune) in 8 Aries opposite natal Mars and P Pallas. William’s P Ascendant squared P Henry in 11 Aries and it was trioctile Venus and P Chiron. Such patterns certainly make the tragedy look fated. At least one positive result of the tragedy seems to be an increased bonding of the two boys with their father. Natal Charlois on the West Point, an auxiliary Descendant, could signify a partner or a competitor. It is now more likely to be the former though the two boys could feel that if their father had been more loving toward their mother she would not have been divorced and in Paris.
Despite his Capricorn Ascendant, Prince Harry is said to be able to take life more lightly than his older brother. He does have the other two angles which symbolize personal identity, the East Point and the Antivertex, in Aquarius, but with the ruler of his Ascendant in Scorpio in the 9th house, he is not likely to escape the need to do the “right” thing, to live up to his heritage. With part of Pisces also in his first house, Neptune and Jupiter become keys to identity and their placement in the 12th house with Neptune in Sagittarius and Jupiter in Capricorn repeat the danger of very high personal expectations and self-criticism of any failures. Adding a Virgo stellium to the preceding, with Vesta, the super-Virgo, on Mercury and Juno, as well as the Sun in the sign, keeps saying the same thing. Harry did start life with the strong Taurus in the fourth house to help the Aquarius mellow the perfectionism, and he could project the Virgo into others since it is in the 7th and 8th houses, but the overall feeling one gets from the chart is hardly the “happy-go-lucky” kid described in the media. All of the major keys to mother are there in the 4th house—Moon, Ceres, and a lunar node, so losing her when he is just about to be 13 years old could be a devastating blow to that easy-going side of his nature, challenging his faith and bringing out his serious side.
When his mother died, Harry had his P Moon in 23 Scorpio square his natal Antivertex and opposite the midpoint of natal Moon and Ceres. P Ceres was retrograding on natal Ceres and forming a grand cross with natal Demeter (the Greek Ceres) and P East Point. P Moon moved into orb to the fixed cross within a few days of Diana’s death, but it was already connected to the network by P Bellona, a war goddess, in 24 Scorpio. Harry’s P Antivertex was crossing his 2nd cusp opposite natal Hela on the 8th cusp. P Hela was conjunct P Juno with both square natal Hel and Uranus. P Uranus was on the P Part of Death in Paris. P north lunar node was quincunx natal Neptune, Libitina, and Belisana, another war goddess, in 27 Sagittarius. P node also squared natal Henry and Brita in 28 Leo and Harry’s P East Point in Paris, while his P MC was conjunct the south lunar node. P Photographica in Virgo squared the natal south node along with P Demeter. P Charlois had just entered 0 Aquarius to mark the new relationship between Charles and the boys. Harry also had his P Sun on Williams, and his older brother will be both a partner and a help in Harry’s growth. P Williams in 10 Libra was trioctile Ceres and P East Point.
Many other factors could be mentioned. P Part of Death in 28 Scorpio was still just in orb of a conjunction with Harry’s P MC and his P true south lunar node. As readers know, there are two ways to calculate the lunar nodes, the mean or average and the true node. Since both seem to work, we include them both—the north node as the true node and the south node as the mean node, but both are at both ends of the axis. Harry’s natal Part of Death was in 24 Aries, the degree of Dodi’s Sun. His Paris Part of Death was in 0 Taurus quincunx the south lunar node and opposite Pluto and Elizabeth for his grandmother. Natal Diana was retrograding in 12 Aries quincunx Saturn. P Diana in 9 Aries was quincunx P Juno and P Vesta in Harry’s 8th house. It had just ended a trioctile to natal Demeter but was still trioctile natal Photographica, P Moon, and octile Ceres. The Egyptian death god, Anubis, was progressing over Harry’s Ascendant and P Jupiter opposed Ate. You stop believing in accidents when you work with the asteroids.
Prince Charles was born in London on November 14, 1948 at 21:14 UT. His chart suggests that he is identified with love and family with Leo rising, Sun on the cusp of the 5th house, and Mars in the 5th house, and that he is very idealistic about them with Neptune in the 4th house and Chiron, Jupiter, and Sagittarius in the 5th house. If he had been born into a “normal” family rather than the royal Windsors, he would probably have learned to express his sensitive emotions, even though he does have a major focus on water in his chart. There is a natural conflict between the fire urge to express the emotions and the water urge to hold them back for security—our own or the security of others. His Moon and north lunar node in Taurus suggest a stable, calm mother (and possibly controlling in the 10th house). His Saturn in Virgo plus Vesta in the 4th house shows a work-oriented father, plus a potentially very controlled or controlling father with the 4th house Scorpio. Charles was trained to stay dignified and self-controlled. Ceres, another key to one’s mother-figure, was in the 1st house to show his mother as a personal role model, and Pluto, ruler of the 4th house Scorpio, was also in the 1st house for his father’s impact as personal role model. Reportedly, Charles was afraid of his father when he was small and when his mother returned from a trip, she would shake hands with him rather than hug and kiss him.
Charles is obviously bright, with Uranus in Gemini in its own house closely opposite Jupiter in its own sign. The combination shows a wide-ranging interest and openness to non-traditional areas. Although not prone to consult psychics as Diana was, Charles is reportedly open to new-age ideas. He said that rather than be the “defender of the faith,” he would prefer to be called a “defender of faith,” leaving the door open to beliefs beyond orthodox Anglicanism. Unfortunately for Diana, he was in love with Camilla, but she tired of waiting for him to propose and married someone else, after which she continued to be his mistress and her husband looked the other way. In the Virgo 1993 Mutable Dilemma, I mentioned that Charles and Camilla were a good example of two people with Icarus conjunct Icarus. Camilla’s P Icarus was on Charles’ natal Icarus when they met. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Charles’ P Icarus reached and moved very slowly over Camilla’s Icarus. Camilla also had her natal Juno on Charles’ Mars and her P Juno held a long sextile to Charles’ Venus in the early 1990s. Next to an Icarus conjunct Icarus between two charts, Juno aspects can mark intense attractions. For those who do not have back issues of The Mutable Dilemma, Camilla was born in London on July 7, 1947 just after 7 A.M. I think that Charles did care for Diana, but he missed the intellectual interaction provided by Camilla and was unable to deal with Diana’s emotionality.
His aspects at Diana’s death included the expected asteroids. P Lutetia (Paris) was conjunct Saturn. P Paula (another version of Paul) was conjunct Neptune. P Paris in 11 Scorpio was quincunx Paul in 11 Aries and square the Sun/Moon in Aquarius. P Libitina was opposite natal Sun and conjunct natal King as his right to be king is questioned. P Hel was conjunct natal Paulina with P Karma just reaching the one-degree orb to also conjunct Paulina. P Paul was opposite Neptune. Clustered on natal Jupiter and opposite Uranus were P Themis (divine justice), P Beer, P Brita, P Charlois, and P Psyche—an incredible mix of Charles, his country, alcohol, consequences, with undoubtedly some of the helplessness of the negative side of Psyche. P Photographica in 12 Scorpio was quincunx the natal MC for the impact on Charles’ status. P Henry was on Juno with a yod to P south lunar node and Charles’ Paris P East Point. P Williams was on Vesta. Juno and Vesta connect his sons to the principles of Scorpio and Virgo. P Gallia was conjunct natal Hel in 22 Capricorn and quincunx his Antivertex. P Icarus was conjunct P Elizabeth in 0 Aquarius which hints at a challenge to the mother of Charles, Queen Elizabeth. I was fascinated to watch how the tabloids in England manipulated public opinion, diverting the initial anger against them and their intrusive photographers into anger against the royal family with headlines suggesting the Windsors were unmoved by Diana’s death. The queen felt forced to make an unprecedented personal speech saying that the royal family was grieving in private. Another key to the potential separation in his life was a yod from P Retsina (wine) in 11 Sagittarius and P Aten (a sun god) in 10 Aquarius to Charles’ East Point. Since the asteroids move relatively slowly, many of these aspects were in effect during the preceding years when the marriage of Charles and Diana was breaking up.
So many more aspects could be listed, but I will close with asteroid Diana. Natal Diana and Beer were conjunct in 5 Sagittarius so Charles’ P MC in Paris opposed them and squared Saturn. P Diana in 24 Sagittarius was octile natal Paulina, P Hel, and P Aten in 9 Aquarius. P Ascendant in 9 Virgo was quincunx the Aquarius group, square natal Pallas, an asteroid connected to partnership, and square natal Charlois in 9 Sagittarius. Charles has P Neptune and natal Venus exactly on his IC in Paris. Like the 8th house cusp, the IC can be a key to endings. How does the cosmos manage such precision, putting P Paul on the MC opposite P Paula on Neptune and P Neptune within one degree of the Paris IC, which is also on natal Venus? This configuration includes two versions of the name of the drunken driver, the MC for consequences of past actions, the potential for alcohol which is associated with problems with faith, Venus and Libra for love and marriage, and the IC which carries the potential for endings.
Dodi Fayed was born in Alexandria, Egypt on April 15, 1955, but I have no time for him so his chart is speculative. I received Dodi’s date and place of birth from Garry Heaton in London, and really appreciated getting it. Gary had picked a birth time of 8:16 P.M., which put Saturn on a Scorpio Ascendant, but that time did not work as well for me. I have collected articles from three tabloids, three weekly news magazines, and two daily papers in large cities, but still have only a limited amount of information on Dodi’s life. His death date is the most important, of course, but the media also say that his parents divorced when he was two or three years old and his mother died not long after that. He was educated at the St. Mark’s school in Egypt, the Le Rosey school in Switzerland, and the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in England, spending his adolescence shuttling between homes in Alexandria, Dubai, and France. At 15 he was reportedly given his own Mayfair apartment, Rolls Royce, and chauffeur. As an adult, he spent more time in the U.S. than in England, partly because of tension with his domineering father. But his father is said to have provided him with a monthly allowance of $100,000, in spite of which, Dodi periodically left unpaid debts behind him as he moved on from expensive rented houses. Friends describe him as kind and generous and even shy, but he went through a series of beautiful and famous models and actresses to also earn the reputation of womanizer. He married model Suzanne Gregard in 1987 but they had a friendly divorce 8 months later and she received a $3.5 million settlement. Other women from past relationships were less complementary. Traci Lind said that Dodi threatened her with a gun when she told him she was leaving him. She also said that he began their relationship when she was only 16 and that he hit her and choked her. Kelly Fisher was suing Dodi when he was killed, claiming that he had promised to marry her and that a check he gave her for $200,000 had bounced.
I picked 9:07 A.M. to put Dodi’s P Moon on Pluto, his P MC octile Mars, and his P Ascendant quincunx Pallas, the north lunar node, the midpoint of Mars/Uranus, and the P Paris Part of Death; all in 27-28 Sagittarius. The Gemini/Sagittarius nodes across the 1st and 7th houses fit his playboy life, but putting the south node as well as Vesta in Cancer in the 1st house would fit his reported shyness at times. The 2nd house Jupiter in a grand trine with Venus in the 10th house and Juno in the 5th house fits both the womanizing and the wealthy father. But, he could just as well have any corner of that grand trine in either the 2nd or the 8th house to give a similar message. Saturn is also part of the grand trine for the successful father. The 10th house Venus in Pisces and 5th house Neptune also fit Dodi’s involvement in producing movies, though his main role seems to have been providing some of the financing.
Trines are often described as indications of luck, but they are basically inner harmony. When we are in agreement with ourselves about what we want, we can often get it, but we may also get into trouble through excesses.. More is not always better. On the other side, squares show inner conflict, but if we learn to compromise, to make a place in our lives for each of the different desires, we can be highly successful. In addition to his grand trine in water signs, Dodi had a grand cross in cardinal signs, which may have been in fixed houses. Regardless of the houses, the cardinal cross suggests a competitive nature. Competing in sports or business provides an appropriate outlet for such habits, so Hollywood was a good choice. But competing in personal relationships is usually less satisfying. Dodi seems to have started the romance with Diana in July 1997 and Kelly Fisher claimed he had promised to marry her on August 9. The grand cross in fixed houses would fit both the string of bad debts and multiple relationships. Saturn in Scorpio and (possibly) Capricorn in the 8th house also point to lessons in handling joint resources, possessions, and pleasures.
If this time is close to accurate, Dodi’s natal Moon was conjunct Ceres in the 8th house, an appropriate position for the early death of his mother. Ceres, another key to a mother-figure, was moving very slowly when Dodi was born, so if this birth time is close, it would have been conjunct the Moon for years for the loneliness present in his early life. Regardless of his birth time, P Ceres remained opposite Jupiter and then Uranus for years, describing his unstable home and parent situation. With solar arc directions, the directed Moon would oppose Uranus for Dodi’s first two years, then square natal Sun from about age one to three for the parents’ divorce. Directed Ceres would square the Sun for two years starting from a bit before age two. Directed Moon would square Neptune from about age three to five. Even without the Moon, if the birth time is quite different, P Ceres moving through the cardinal cross suggests a difficult beginning. In recent years, Dodi’s P Saturn has held a quincunx to Mercury as he shuttled between countries and relationships. It was natally square Hela in 19 Leo but retrograded to square Photographica in 16 Leo and Bacchus and Icarus in 17 Aquarius. P Diana had moved into 16 Taurus to complete a grand cross in the fixed signs. If my speculative birth time is right, Dodi’s Paris Part of Death was in 19 Taurus and his P Libitina in 19 Aquarius completed another fixed cross with natal Saturn and Hela. P Mercury, with its connection to intelligence and short trips, had reached the P south lunar node, signaling a lesson in Mercury areas and in relationships because of the nodes, and it squared natal Gaea in 26 Virgo. P Paulina, a variation of Paul for the driver, was also on the P south node and P Mercury. Mars was progressing over P Nemesis and natal Vesta, calling for caution and practicality. P Mars was also octile/trioctile Photographica, P Saturn, and P Diana! P Photographica in 28 Leo was conjunct natal Williams and P Apollo, a sun god for fame, opposite natal French, octile P Gallia, but also in a grand trine to the north lunar node and Pallas in Sagittarius and to natal Charlois in 29 Aries. There are always some stress and some harmony aspects and we always have mixed emotions. Though Diana’s death has made it more difficult for Charles and Camilla to be more open in their relationship, he will probably deepen his relationship with his sons and the whole royal family must feel some relief that they do not face the prospect of Dodi as a stepfather of a future king. To support that idea, P Brita was conjunct P Venus. But to Diana’s sons, the fate of Dodi could not be compared to the loss of their mother, and P Williams in 3 Virgo squared natal Mars.
As usual, there is always more that might be said. There are many appropriate aspects to the angles, but since they are speculative, I should leave them for another round. I will just mention that the birth time I chose put Gallia on the Ascendant and Vinifera (wine grapes) on the Descendant. P Pallas opposed natal Paul and P Vinifera was on the south node of Mars. P Karma was on the Saturn/south lunar node, square Saturn/north node, octile P Uranus and trioctile natal Sun. P Hela was quincunx Ceres and (maybe) the Moon from 22 Leo. P Juno, a major key to a mate, was square Chiron and quincunx the P Sun. Dodi and Diana shared lonely childhoods and a desire for love, but his self-absorption and her empathy and compassion for others would have posed problems in a long-term relationship. They might have worked out their religious differences since neither was apparently a committed believer in their nominal religions. Diana is said to have already had short-term romances with two other Muslims and Dodi had mostly dated at least nominal Christians. Diana was noted for her interest in “new age” phenomena. She regularly consulted astrologers, psychics, tarot card readers, etc. I wonder whether they are still together in the next level, and if so, for how long???
Finally we turn to the driver, Henri Paul, who was born in Lorient, France on July 3, 1956. I have no time for him, so the chart included here is totally speculative with only the one event—his death and the deaths of two passengers in the car he drove. I picked a birth time of 15:08 to put his P Moon and P Ascendant on Saturn. UT is one hour earlier. This birth time also put Neptune just above the Ascendant and Vesta just below it. All I know of his personal life is that he was not married and was a former naval officer. He had previously had a problem with alcohol but was reportedly drinking less in recent years. Both the navy and the alcohol suggest a prominent Neptune. Paul had worked for the Ritz hotel for 11 years. We will mostly look at sign placements and aspects since the houses are really uncertain, but we can use the asteroids. The three variations of his last name include Paul in 26 Virgo, Paulina in 22 Virgo, and Paula in 11 Libra. Natal Hela is also in 11 Libra and they square the natal Sun in 11 Cancer with Pluto at their midpoint and octile all of them and Saturn octile/trioctile them. P Paula had moved ahead of Hela to 23 Libra to reach an octile to natal Ate, the Greek goddess of evil. P Paula was also octile the natal north lunar node. Natal Urania in 7 Pisces opposed Ate and was trioctile P Hela in 21 Libra, so the network of aspects were connected by overlapping orbs. P Nephthys and P Charlois in 8 Virgo were also octile P Paula, which made them part of the network. P Paulina had caught up to P Paul and the latter was on the natal south node of Mars in 8 Libra. All three were also square natal Paris in 9 Cancer and quincunx Retsina and the natal Moon IF my speculative birth time is close to accurate. P Sun was conjunct both P Atlantis and P Lutetia (Paris), octile P Venus and trioctile P Icarus, which was retrograding in 6 Capricorn. Natal Diana was on the Saturn/south lunar node and P south node of Mars was octile Diana. P Diana was between natal Gallia and Paulina, octile natal Atlantis and trioctile P Libitina. P Neptune opposed natal Libitina. P Williams was conjunct natal Photographica in 12 Aquarius, quincunx P Mercury, and square P Vesta. P Henry in 18 Aquarius was square Vinifera (wine grapes). P Vinifera was on natal French, Phaethon, and the P south lunar node. There is always more, but the picture shows us a bright and probably competent but troubled individual.
Did Diana and Dodi have to die? I believe that character creates one’s destiny, so unless we change our character, our habits, we do what comes naturally and we get the consequences. Hopefully, we keep learning, and life goes on.