Princess Anne, having her 75^th birthday this week, is catching rave reviews in contrast to her younger brother Andrew.  In the course of 2024, she was the busiest royal, carrying out 474 official engagements despite being hospitalised in June for concussion. Reliable, unfussy, devoted to her late mother and a reassuring support for her elder brother King Charles, she shows no signs of flagging.

 Born 15 August 1950 11.50 am London, she has an influential and controlling 10^th house Sun Pluto in Leo; with a dutiful, socially conscious Moon in Virgo conjunct Mercury and Saturn in her 11^th.  She also has a self-protective Water Grand Trine of a confident Jupiter in compassionate Pisces in her 5^th house which rules sport and children trine an adventurous-travel 9^th house Uranus trine a formidably determined Mars in Scorpio in her 1^st house.

 Her Solar Arc Sun was conjunct her Mars in 2022 when Queen Elizabeth 11, her mother, died with her Solar Arc Pluto following behind to hit the conjunction to her Mars in late 2026. So a longish period of high stress and frustration – which her accident, being kicked in the head by one of her horses at grass would be part. It happened when her Solar Arc Sun/Pluto midpoint crossed over her Mars. She has also had her Progressed Moon moving through her 8^th house for almost two years exiting in February 2026 which can be heavy-going and a time of serious inner reflection.  

  At the time of her accident which appears to have been more serious than advertised, tr Neptune was just into her 6^th house and over the conjunction to her late Pisces North Node, being joined by tr Saturn from April of this year. She always looks incredibly healthy but she will be more aware of her physical limits through this phase until Saturn exits her 6^th in early 2028. She does have tr Jupiter moving through her 9^th at the  moment to lift her enthusiasm and then across her successful 10^th from July 2026 for a year thereafter. But that runs alongside tr Pluto opposing her Midheaven through 2025/26 which will bring forced changes in her direction. Tr Pluto then moves into her 4^th house from 2026 onwards when she will be faced with ongoing emotional changes within herself and her the family and domestic setup for many years to come.

 Tr Uranus square her Jupiter will bring luck and moments of confidence and enthusiasm in 2026/27 which will reverberate round her Water Grand Trine to good effect.

  Although she was supposed to be closer to her father, her relationship with QE11 was the crucial one with her mother relying heavily on her after the Buckingham Palace break in and Anne’s obvious sorrow in 2022 when she accompanied the Royal coffin from Balmoral to London. Her mother’s Taurus Sun fell in Anne’s 7^th for a close partnership with her Neptune Moon falling in Anne’s 10^th conjunct her Sun and Pluto.

 Their relationship chart had a reassuring composite Moon opposition Jupiter square Venus North Node; plus a steady composite Sun trine Saturn and trine Jupiter.

 Anne sat with her mother in the 24 hours before she died in September 2022 when the transiting Virgo Sun was exactly conjunct Anne’s Moon.

  All of her close family relationships will be undergoing challenges in the next several years. Andrew, I suspect, she wrote off earlier this year when tr Uranus was conjunct their composite Sun square Pluto. With Charles there will be continuing concerns from now onwards peaking in 2028 if not before. With Prince William, she has an up and down connection, veering from highs to critical lows. Again there will be a drift of uncertainty over the next two years.

Edward, her youngest brother, she finds tricky with a cool composite Sun opposition Saturn square Pluto and there will be tensions on that front through the next four years.  

 Her Solar Return for the year ahead catches the volatile Kite of the moment with Uranus in the 7^th trine Pluto in the 3^rd trine a hard-working Mars in the 10^th opposition Neptune Saturn in the 4^th. Which looks exhausting frankly.

  Tr Uranus square her Sun/Moon midpoint in 2026/27 hints at either changes in her marriage or an internal psychological shift. She has been married to naval officer Tim Laurence for 33 years. There are some adjustments ongoing in that relationship over the coming year – so she’ll have her hands full coping with tensions on various fronts.

Gaza is an unbearable horror show; stalwart Ukraine is no nearer expelling the invaders; the USA is being dismantled under a military dictatorship; UK is in despairing chaos under a rudderless (and control-freaky) government; the EU are up against the wall, southern locations under threat of overheating/wildfires and on and on and on. It was not supposed to be like this.

  Pluto and Uranus into Air signs should have brought intellectual insight, awareness and enlightenment – Saturn Neptune in Aries the urge to improve society and support the underdog.   

 Netanyahu, Trump and Putin are on a might-makes-right high, all selfish ambition and just-because-I-can. Elsewhere there is an unnerving lack of effective leadership.

  Grasping at straws, might it be Neptune’s swansong in Pisces conjunct the shipwrecking Fixed Star Scheat, in place till late January 2026, which is in part the chaos creator?

 Scheat can bring – stubbornness, is headstrong of a combative nature, wins and loses friends, may be unfortunate, a changeable, unpredictable nature, has high enterprise, and may be subject to violence. Fantasizes. [Astrology King]

  The March 2025 Solar Eclipse had the North Node, Venus and Neptune all conjunct Scheat in a violent Saros series.

  The approaching September 2025 Solar Eclipse has the New Moon in final degree Virgo in a downbeat opposition to Saturn, Scheat and Neptune in Aries in a worrisome, health-related, low energy Saros Series. Plus a can-be-ruthless/violent Pluto square Mars as well as three yods onto focal points Neptune, Mars and Venus respectively – which sounds stressful, indecisive, and much of the same as went before.

  Which reflects the paralysis in the Israel/Gaza, Ukraine charts and indeed the USA chart which is battling headwinds from the Solar Arc Sun square SA Saturn colliding with the natal Mars square Neptune from last year until early 2027.

 Where the eclipse effect brightens is by February 2026 with the Aquarius Solar Eclipse in a high-energy, constructive Saros series, bringing unification within relationships and idealism. It still won’t be wonderful with Algol conjunct Uranus square the Sun; and Scheat lingering close to Saturn Neptune in Aries – but slowly slowly it will get better.

  By late August 2026 the North Node reverses out of Pisces (and away from Scheat) into Aquarius staying till early 2028 which will also help, since it is likely to promote causes and humanitarian activism.

 It will take till 2027 for the USA to sail into calmer waters. By early 2027 the UK will be clear of the disruptive tr Uranus square Pluto and even better tr Uranus will be moving out of the UK 8^th house into less erratic financial circumstances. The EU will have cleared the punishing Solar Arc Pluto opposition its Moon and square Uranus of the moment; and the upheavals of tr Uranus square Pluto in 2026 (though their challenges will not disappear as the decade wears on.)

  It all sounds like jam tomorrow but there are astro-hints that once over the hurdle of Neptune loosening its grip on Pisces, and Scheat receding into the distance there should be gradual improvements through next year – with hopes that the benefits of Pluto Uranus in Air and Neptune Saturn in Fire may start to bear fruit into 2027 and beyond.

Six journalists were killed in a targeted Israeli attack that brought condemnation from the UN’s human rights office, Reporters Without Borders, the Foreign Press Association and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Five were Al Jazeera journalists, one of whom the Israeli military alleged had “served as the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas”. The CPJ said: “Israel has a longstanding, documented pattern of accusing journalists of being terrorists without providing any credible proof.” The lead journalist killed in some of his recent social media posts had criticized Hamas. CPJ says at least 186 journalists have been killed since the start of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza in October 2023 – the deadliest period for journalists since it began recording such data in 1992.

 Al Jazeera was founded on 1 November 1996 in Qatar, as a satellite TV channel delivering Arabic news and current affairs, but has since evolved into a multifaceted media network. It receives public funding from the Qatar government. While critics view Al Jazeera Arabic as being influenced by Qatar’s foreign policy, Al Jazeera English is seen as editorially independent. The network has often been targeted by foreign governments upset with its reporting.

 It has a penetrating, determined Scorpio Sun and Mercury in an upbeat sextile to Jupiter on one side and sextile Mars on the other; with tough-minded Pluto trine Saturn in Aries sextile Uranus in Aquarius (and Neptune). A high-drama, good-in-crisis Mars square Pluto; and a wideish yod of Mars sextile Mercury inconjunct Saturn.

 When the October 7^th Hamas attack took place tr Saturn in Pisces was exactly opposition the Al Jazeera Mars and moving to square the Pluto – pulling Al Jazeera into the centre of the action.

The Israeli government does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza to report freely, so many outlets rely on Gaza-based reporters for coverage.

  With the Al Jazeera yod focal point Saturn in Aries assailed by tr Saturn conjunct for its Return into early 2026; and tr Neptune conjunct the Saturn on and off till early 2027, it will continue to move through highly uncertain times. Tr Uranus is exactly square the Mars for this killing and that will be in place also through 2026 until early 2027.

  The Al Jazeera/Israel relationship chart, always hostile and fraught at the best of times, with a toxic composite Mars Pluto conjunction; and doubt-ridden, suspicious Saturn opposition Neptune will be worsening dramatically through this winter and on as tr Uranus squares the composite Mars and the Mars/Pluto midpoint; and opposes the Neptune throughout 2026 – nerve-stretched and high risk.

  There seems to be no end to this deathly quagmire in any direction.

‘Britain is not a broken society’ runs one viewpoint – in complete contrast to ‘ many of the preconditions for civil war exist in Britain today.’

 The first stance says crime is way down from the 1990s, there are no blackouts, fewer strikes and an economy which is better than our close neighbours. “The country has serious problems but the right’s vision of it has become hysterical.”

The second complains that ‘the British state will now imprison locals over online bursts of purely rhetorical frustration, while giving rapists a rap on the wrist.’ Plus immigration that is wreaking demographic havoc, bringing in clashing traditions. Unfairness about a free water-taxi service, putting low-skilled, overwhelmingly male foreign citizens in four-star hotels. Ten million working-age inhabitants on benefits, over a million are foreign-born.’ (Lionel Shriver, now in Portugal).

  David Betz, an in-vogue academic of the moment has looked at studies on social cohesion, civil war causation theory and social attitudes surveys. He argues that elite overreach ( most recently Boris Johnson’s turbo-charging of immigration against the wishes of the electorate), factional polarization (Muslim v white nationalism), a collapse in trust, economic pressures, and the perceived downgrading of the majority population in a previously homogeneous society, are all present in contemporary Britain.

 Mercifully he concludes ‘Britain is unlikely to reach phase three: the offensive phase. This is when the insurgent groups are strong enough to challenge government forces.’

 Two astro-influences are eye-catching on the UK chart. The first is tr Pluto in Aquarius trine the UK Uranus in Libra, through 2024/25.

Previous Pluto in an Air sign; In Libra in 1971 for a conjunction with the UK Uranus – introduction of decimal currency, the first postal workers’ strike, and the start of the Open University.

Pluto in Gemini in 1882 –  the beginning of the Anglo-Egyptian War. Attempt to assassinate Queen Victoria. The Married Women’s Property Act passed, granting women the right to own property.

 Nothing too outstanding.  What is much more to the point is tr Uranus moving to square the UK Pluto at 2 degrees Pisces picking up from June 2026 and running to April 2027.

Looking back at previous Uranus hard aspects to that Pluto – and the record is replete with riots.

Uranus Pisces conjunct the UK Pluto: In 1919, significant social and political upheaval in the aftermath of World War I – race riots in major port cities, widespread industrial unrest, and the lingering effects of the Spanish Flu pandemic.

Uranus in Pisces 2003 –  most notably just as Uranus moved into Pisces, 1.5 million turned out on the streets in London to indicate their opposition to Tony Blair’s involvement in Iraq; and there were other widespread anti-war protests. 

Uranus in Gemini square the UK Pluto: In 1858 – riots in Belfast, sparked by a procession following a funeral. The clashes between Protestants and Catholics involved stone-throwing and continued for several days, leading to a strong police presence. Additionally, there were incidents of machine-breaking and wage-related unrest in Kent and Sussex during the same period. 

In 1941 – intense bombing raids during the Blitz. Rationing was introduced, and conscription expanded. 

Uranus Sagittarius square the UK Pluto: 1981 the Toxteth riots in inner-city Liverpool, which arose in part from long-standing tensions between the local police and the black community. They followed the Brixton riot earlier that year and were part of the 1981 England riots.

In 1897 – protests related to women’s rights and vaccinations. The Cambridge protest, fueled by opposition to women receiving university degrees, involved the public mutilation of a woman on a bicycle effigy and celebrations with confetti, fireworks, and other items. 

Uranus in Virgo opposition the UK Pluto:In 1961  protests and racial tensions, but no large-scale riots. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) organized marches, including one from Wethersfield to London. 

In 1878 – the Bury and Blackburn riots, cotton mill workers’ protests over low wages, and the Bristol riots, triggered by the House of Lords rejecting the Reform Bill. The Bristol riots involved looting and burning of buildings, while the Bury and Blackburn riots saw workers attacking factories and homes. 

 On the basis of past experience 2026 looks to be a year when there will be social unrest and widespread demonstrations and possibly riots.

The arrests after the Palestine Action demonstration, many of them over sixty, are a nonsense and an outrage. See previous post: Palestine Action – rights and wrongs 24th June 2025.

 “A phrase that is circulating in various fraught debates at the moment – “when good people fail to act, bad men take over” – seems relevant. Anger over the plight of Palestinians is more than legitimate. But the mainstream frowns, winces and does nothing creating a vacuum into which the zealots leap, carrying on the fight in often anti-social ways.”

Putting a finger on cultural pulse of the moment throws up depressingly pointless stories. One such is actress, model and brand promoter Syndey Sweeney, lauded to the heavens by Trump as “hot” and a Republican to boot, ruffling feathers with her comments on her blue-eyed genes to sell – ahem – jeans, and promoting the kind of boobs and hair image that #metoo was supposed to have banished.

  The pro-Maga lobby have adopted the advert as being another triumph in their war on woke. Sweeney is a “registered Republican”, according to Donald Trump, while liberals have accused the jeans firm American Eagle of promoting eugenics and endorsing white supremacy. Feminists also say the relentless, regressive objectification of Sweeney’s body has set back their cause.

 None of which matters a jot but she does have an intriguing chart which is anything but frothy.

  Born 12 September 1997 12.42pm Spokane, Washington, with her mother a former criminal lawyer, she started young in acting, becoming known as Cassie Howard, a promiscuous teen, in the Gen Z favourite Euphoria, was in the first series of The White Lotus.  As leading lady, her first romantic comedy Anyone But You grossed more than $220mn. She has also amassed a string of endorsements: Baskin-Robbins, Guess Originals, Miu Miu, Laneige as well as the “natural personal care” brand Dr. Squatch.      

  She has a career-oriented 10^th house Virgo Sun North Node conjunct Midheaven sextile an uber-determined Mars in Scorpio inconjunct Saturn in Aries in her entertaining 5^th house. A yod focal point Saturn can trip up and be self-defeating if it transgresses society’s rules (the sensible ones). With Saturn in the 5^th she sounds more likely to become a mover and shaker in the organizational side of the dramatic business.

  She has a defensive, difficult-to-get-to-know Pluto on her Ascendant; and a quick witted 3^rd house Uranus and Jupiter in Aquarius as well as a vague Neptune close to her 2^nd house Capricorn Moon.

 She will be facing a few hitches and glitches ahead with her Solar Arc Saturn (yod) opposing her Mars in 2027 which will bring a life changing moment – a setback to shift her onto a different trajectory. Which may or may not having anything to do with her entanglement with Trump/MAGA. Her relationship chart with Trump is extremely odd for someone who professes support. There is a power-struggling, can-turn-toxic composite Mars Pluto sextile Sun Mercury and trine Saturn – and that is heavy duty. The composite Mars Pluto also opposes Uranus and squares the composite Moon which doubles the jeopardy. With Saturn opposition Neptune. That will also be seriously rattled before the end of his present term. She may come to regret being held on high as a Trump “hottie”.

  Apropos of not much, I never understand why models have this vapid look in photos with dead eyes as if they (or the photographer) thinks is sexy.

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Photo: 10 month old Jack Russell Bertie having a stand off with a snow leopard in a David Attenborough documentary. Cats, dogs, horses and anything furry gets an immediate response.

Of passing interest is another political hiccup for Starmer as his homelessness minister resigns having previously spoken out about private renters being exploited only for it to emerge that she had removed tenants from property she owned before putting on a sizeable rent rise of almost £700 a month. Not illegal but certainly hypocritical.

 In the grand scheme of things it is a minor glitch. The only reason it is here is Rushanara Ali’s chart – 14 March 1975 in Bangladesh. She has a confident, lucky Sun Jupiter in Pisces with two yods – of Mars in Aquarius sextile Neptune inconjunct Saturn and Jupiter sextile South Node inconjunct Uranus.

 When yods are triggered the individual’s life is pushed onto a different trajectory. Her Solar Arc Mars on one leg of the Saturnine yod is now conjunct her Jupiter on the leg of the other yod which might sound lucky but it triggers Saturn, planet of karma and rectitude. With tr Uranus square the Solar Arc Saturn as well now. Plus Solar Arc Neptune (on one yod) square Uranus on the focal point of the other yod – and tr Pluto in hard aspect to both.

 Quite a tangle. Astrologically intriguing as an example of a life changing moment.

Jim Lovell, the astronaut, who was commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission – “Houston we have a problem” – which turned into one of the most dramatic in the history of space flight has died aged 97

 Launched on 11 April 1970 from the Kennedy Space Centre at 2.13pm EST in April 1970, it was intended to land America’s third spacecraft on the Moon but an on-board explosion two days later 200,000 miles from Earth (four fifths of the way to the Moon) led to a challenging rescue involving tens of thousands of aerospace technicians.  They converted the lunar lander spacecraft and its rocket engines for use as a “lifeboat” to propel Apollo 13 around the Moon and back to Earth. In 1995 it became was the subject of a successful film – starring Tom Hanks as Lovell

 All three astronauts declared that they were willing to make another moon flight, but were never given the opportunity.

  Born 25 March 1928 2.10 am Cleveland, Ohio, he constructed and launched model rockets, took a science degree and wrote a paper on liquid-fuelled rockets., later serving as a Navy test pilot, before becoming an astronaut with Nasa. He was described as a popular, easygoing personality who never suffered from the post-flight malaise that afflicted some of his fellow astronauts. He flew on four space flights: Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and Apollo 13.

He had a quick-witted and unorthodox, trail blazing Aries Sun conjunct Uranus in his 3^rd; with Jupiter in Aries close by in an ultra-confident square to Pluto and a well-balanced trine to Saturn in knowledgeable Sagittarius in his 12^th.

 But what is eye-catching in his chart is his 8^th house Neptune exactly conjunct Alphard and two degrees away from Regulus – and it squares his 5^th house Moon and opposes Mars in Aquarius.  Throughout 1970 and the Apollo 13 launch his Solar Arc Pluto was conjunct his Neptune – which can be both devastatingly confused as well as supremely ambitious. Tr Jupiter was moving across his 10^th house for career success (and luck) and his Solar Arc Jupiter was just over the conjunction to his Moon with tr Mars conjunct both and square his Neptune = good fortune and disaster. Plus a nerve-stretched tr Uranus conjunct his Solar Arc Neptune.

  He went on in later years to work in business.

  His laid back, unflappable approach could be in part attributed to his “spaced-out” 8^th house Neptune as well as his Jupiter Pluto confidence  and Aries stellium faith that his guardian angel would always be there for him.

Sir Alexander Fleming, the Scottish physician and microbiologist, best known for discovering the antibiotic penicillin which was described as the “single greatest victory ever achieved over disease”, was born on 6 August 1881 at 2am Darvel, Scotland. He was knighted for his scientific achievements and was named in Time magazine’s list of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th century.

  He had a Leo Sun square a 10^th house Saturn Neptune conjunction in Taurus – Saturn Neptune being known for healing and health in one of its effects (around now until 2027 in Aries). Even more serendipitous he had Jupiter in Taurus conjunct Algol on one side and Chiron on the other (both within a degree) – a healing victory over death. His Jupiter was also in a confident conjunction to an unshakeably determined Pluto Mars conjunction. Plus he had an innovative Uranus trine Neptune Saturn.

 His discovery came on 28 September 1928 when, with delightful astrological precision, Neptune had just moved into Virgo, sign of health.

  At that point his Mars Pluto conjunction was by Solar Arc crossing his Ascendant as was tr Pluto for a momentous break and a life-changing moment. Tr Neptune was square his Mars. Tr Jupiter in Taurus was moving through his 10th/11^th about to cross his four Taurus planets.

Saturn Neptune in the past:  Medical advances are highlighted under Saturn–Neptune, with Louis Pasteur helping to discover the anthrax vaccine in 1881, the year of Fleming’s birth.

  But it also has a dual face coinciding at times with major outbreaks of sickness. 1021 – an epidemic of St Vitus Dance (chorea) in Europe 1 when Saturn and Neptune were in Aquarius.  The plague that devastated Europe and Asia during the 1340s also Saturn–Neptune conjunction in Aquarius of 1344, and the Uranus–Pluto conjunction at the same time. The outbreak of bubonic plague in London in 1665 and the Great Fire of London a year later both took place when Saturn and Neptune were together in Capricorn.  In 1846 in Aquarius, widespread famine in Ireland followed the failure of the potato crop. During the 1917 and 1918 conjunction in Leo, there were massive casualties in the First World War, especially at Passchendaele, and the Spanish ‘flu epidemic of 1918 killed 20 million in Europe, the United States and India. By the conjunction of the late 1980s in Capricorn, the AIDS virus was running amok, causing countless deaths in Africa, Europe and the United States.

Sarah, the last of the Morlok quadruplets, who entertained audiences with her three sisters as a child but grew up with a nightmare father, has died aged 95. Her mother was expecting twins and went into labour a month early, delivering four identical girls born from a single egg which was considered a medical miracle at that time.

 The family were given free housing, medical support and milk, with copious donations of money and knitted clothes. Their father despite being dubbed “Jolly Carl” by newspapers was a Nazi sympathiser and an extreme authoritarian whose mother had been mentally disturbed. He refused to let his daughters mix with other children, banned them from having boyfriends and sexually abused them. He had two of them — Helen and Wilma — surgically circumcised. He was “one of the worst fathers on earth” according to Audrey Clare Farley, who revealed their true story in a 2023 book entitled Girls and Their Monsters.

 Three of the girls developed mental problems and were given electroconvulsive therapy. In their 20s they took part in a study of schizophrenia to determine whether their illness was caused by nature or nurture. Only Sarah recovered sufficiently to lead an independent life in which she married (not very happily) and had three children. Two sisters died at 72/73 and the third at 85.

 The quads were born on 19 May 1930 between 10.25am and 10.35am in Lansing, Michigan. They had a 10^th house Sun Mercury conjunct the destructive Fixed star Algol in Taurus square Neptune, with Chiron and North Node also in Taurus in the 10^th. They had Pluto in the 12^th in a tough opposition to Saturn square an explosive Mars Uranus in Aries – describing a dominating, ruthless, autocratic and damaging father.  Their Moon was in Aquarius in the 7^th trine Venus Jupiter and sextile Uranus Mars pointing to a marginally better relationship with their mother though she was complicit.

Their midpoints are truly difficult with a violent Uranus opposition Saturn/Pluto; a tormented Neptune opposition their destructive (abuse) Mars/Saturn; and a neurotic Neptune = Uranus/Pluto.

Their father Carl, born 8 September 1888 Germany, was a Sun Virgo with the late 19^th century Neptune Pluto in Gemini which can be psychologically off-the-wall opposition a can-be-fanatical, might-makes-right Mars Jupiter in Scorpio which opposed the sisters’ Taurus Sun and Mercury.

 Their mother Sadie, 8 March 1899, a highly-strung Sun Pisces square Neptune Pluto opposition Uranus and Saturn in Sagittarius was none too stable herself. Her Mars in Cancer was conjunct her daughters’ Pluto so she sparked a good deal of anger from them for not protecting them.

 What an unholy mess and a tragedy.  

ADD ON: The Dionne Quintuplets, born 28 May 1934 3.56am Callander, ON Canada, were born prematurely and when months old their custody was signed over to the Red Cross and then the Crown but that did not stop them being exploited as a tourist attraction. Their mother was accused of physically abusing them and their father of sexual abuse. Only one quintuplet is alive today. Two died in their 20s/30s, one in 2001 and the fourth died on July 28, 2025, at the age of 91.

 There are strong similarities in the charts with the quads, with a Sun square Neptune; and a ferocious Mars Algol opposition a Scorpio Moon square Saturn; with the opposition forming the driving rod of a Water Grand Trine of Moon trine Pluto trine Scheat. Plus Pluto square Uranus Venus in Aries.

 Poor kids what a disaster.