Revisiting History – British Monarchy

by Marilyn Muir, LPMAFA

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The public is fascinated by royalty whether that be hereditary, governing, loyalty or purely entertainment. This article could turn into multiple books if I were to cover the possibilities of royalty in general, so I will have to leave such readings to others who can give it the time and attention it deserves. For this teaching article I choose to look at…

  1. The commonalities for those who became monarchs and who might still become king,
  2. Five royal couples and their weddings. They are King George V and Queen Mary of Tech, King George VI and Queen Mother Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer (who became a princess) and Prince William and Catherine (Kate) Middleton who are to be married April 29, 2011. This young couple’s nuptials were the inspiration for this study.

Chart information for the ten individuals and their weddings are provided as is a spreadsheet synopsis form for easy visibility to see connections between the charts.

Royal Births

Kings George V and VI and Queen Elizabeth II were actual monarchs but were prince (two) and princess (one) at the time of their marriages. Prince Charles and Prince William are potential monarchs. The overview shows three births 1:18 to 3:05 AM: George V and VI and Queen Elizabeth, all monarchs. All had strong first houses. Charles and William had births 9 to 10 pm. Charles has a strong 4th house, William a strong 9th. That might raise a question as to whether either of them would eventually become monarch. Data sheets with the birth and wedding information is provided as is a chart position compilation.

Forceful conjunctions, stelliums or clusters (10 planets only)

Stelliums are a basic astrological subject. I have noticed through my research that many people of strong impact show such clustering (emphasis) through forceful conjunctions (tight orb) or stelliums. I have also noticed that similar impact can be shown by several planets clustered within a tight space not necessarily in the same sign. See Neil Michelson’s Tables of Planetary Phenomena, page 128.

George V        3 planets/Taurus with 4 planets within 38˚

George VI       2 planets/Gemini, 4 planets/Scorpio, 3 planets/Sagittarius, 7 planets within 46˚

Elizabeth II     2 planets/Aquarius, 2/Pisces, 1/Aries, all within 43˚

Charles            2 planets each Libra/Scorpio/Sagittarius, 4 planets within 37˚

William            2 planets/Cancer, 3 planets/Libra, 4 planets within 22˚

Note: While not part of this presentation, you can also look at Donn and Leona Forrest’s work on Overloaded Houses (house clustering) from their book Astrological Chrestomathy.

Chart Rulership

George V        Mars/Leo/5th                                     George VI       Ven/Sco/1st

Elizabeth II     Sat/Sco/9th conj MC                Charles            Sun/Sco/4th

William            Jup/Sco/9th conj MC and Nep/Sag/12th conj Asc

Commonalities

George V        Jup/9th/wide conj MC

George VI       Jup/10th/conj MC

William            Jup/9th/conj MC

Elizabeth         No                                           Sat/9th/conj MC

Charles            No                                           Moon/9th/16˚ to MC

By comparing Prince Charles and Prince William natal charts to those who ascended the throne, William appears to me to be more likely to ascend the throne than Charles.

Royal Marriages

Wedding times are approximate from news sources, most likely reflect the planned start time for the ceremony, with the exception of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, which is more recent and supplies actual seconds. I personally would prefer the time for “I now pronounce you man and wife.” My best guess is that that moment should have been approximately 15-20’ from the start of the ceremony, so there is minor play in four of the five wedding charts (that is up to 5˚ on the midheaven).

Since all the weddings took place late morning to early afternoon, all the Suns will be in the 10th house so this is a natural time of day effect, not a key pointer. Mercury and Venus always travel close to the Sun so these are natural positions and are also not key pointers.

It is important to realize that any family grouping will have close degree connections because those are necessary for simultaneous activation. The aspects themselves may be varied, but the timing or triggering of the natal degree positions is specific. The two natal chart positions should connect to points in the wedding chart. We look at planets in signs in houses and aspects to determine the nature of the relationship itself. However, the individual charts must also tie to the event chart that unites the couple. These examples are not your usual relationship readings because of the added elements of the monarchy and the effect on the collective populace of that country. The natals represent the individuals and the marriage chart represents the uniting (and two shall become one) that will move forward into experience as a single unit. We give up some of our own selfhood when we become united in this way. Degrees are specific.

  • King George V The wedding of George V and Mary of Tech was ruled by Venus/Leo/10th with Saturn/Libra (exalted) on the ascendant in the 1st. While there is a Moon/Saturn opposition across the ascendant/descendant axis, this opposition has trines and sextiles to five planets in the 9th and 10th houses. The Moon is trine Venus/Mars/Mercury/Leo, sextile Neptune/Pluto/Gemini. The Saturn end of the opposition is trine the Gemini positions and sextile the Leo positions. The rulers of the ascendant/descendant axis are conjunct which is excellent for the couple depicted in this marriage. Worth mentioning here is the conjunction of Neptune/Pluto in Gemini that is a 500-year cultural age indicator which occurred at the turn of the 19th to 20th century.
  • King George VI  The wedding of George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon has Leo rising with ruling Sun/Tau/10th and with a friendly Sun/Moon trine and Neptune rising towards the ascendant, indicating a spiritual value to their relationship, which is supported by Venus at 29 Pisces in the 9th. During my research I read that he who would become King George VI was stubborn and would consider no other bride, a beautiful start to a lifetime together. Even though Elizabeth’s birth data is somewhat speculative (Rodden DD)*, we can still see significant connections.
  • Queen Elizabeth II  The wedding has Capricorn rising as do the natal charts of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. The union is strong in tradition and responsibility, and one that should get stronger with time. The ruler Saturn is in a Leo stellium in the 7th and united they stand: regal, loyal and ceremonial. With the South Node right on the midheaven conjunct the Sun, I believe they have walked this way together before and had a strong sense of the rightness of the partnership and their collective duty. It would not always have been easy with the Leo stellium squaring the Sun/Node/MC and opposing the Moon/Aquarius, but they would stay united and very private. The Queen has her south node conjunct her natal ascendant, which means she would respond to her conditioning and lifetime (current and past) habits. The marriage Moon opposite Saturn/Mars is across Queen Elizabeth’s Mars/Jupiter/conjunction and opposed her Neptune, and connects with Prince Philip’s Moon, all between 20 to 25˚.
  • Prince Charles The marriage of Prince Charles and Diana (a commoner who became princess after her marriage) sets up similarly to the marriage of George V and Mary of Tech at 5 to 13˚ cardinal and involves Charles’ MC/Venus/Neptune and Diana’s Sun/Mercury. Many years ago, I took a class from Astrologer Carole Rushman relative to soulmate ties within individual charts, and whether or not the soulmate is available (incarnate, age, related, etc.). Some are, some are not, but the desire to reunite drives us in our relationship choices. Charles has the soulmate tie; his soulmate is available and possible. Diana does not have availability of her soulmate for this lifetime. That might explain why Charles has been so connected to his second wife Camilla for decades, much to the detriment of his marriage with Diana and the eventual dissolution of that storybook marriage.
  • Prince William The marriage of Prince William and Kate is pending and the start time has been announced. It is truly speculative because it has not occurred but still can be compared to the four royal weddings above. Note the disclaimer because the bride’s birth time is not available. We cannot trust her midheaven or ascendant, plus the Moon can be off by several degrees (1˚ for every two birth clock hours). Even with that caution, we can still see connections. Look at the wedding 9th house containing six of ten planets, five in Aries (stellium), clustered within 25˚: Saturn opposite Venus/Mars conjunction, opposition William’s Libra stellium and square his New Moon birth. As if that is not enough, this also connects to Kate’s Libra stellium. Her speculative Moon (approaching the Full Moon phase) is a close square to those degrees.

For additional study, progress each natal to the day of the wedding. Cast a diurnal chart** (wedding) for each individual. Each person should have a natal, a progressed and a diurnal chart to look at their individual participation and experience at the event of their wedding. Note the mental reservation for inaccuracies with Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon’s chart, Kate the current bride’s chart and that the official time of four of the five wedding charts that could result in moving forward 15-20’. Your work will still be reasonably accurate AND you may be able to rectify the charts if you have the patience and the skill. 

Remember the diurnals will be similar to the wedding chart. Why cast them? Diurnals are specific to the individual. The wedding chart is specific to the event. The major differences between the two diurnals and the matching marriage chart are the midheaven, ascendant and Moon. Should you include Arabian Parts in your study, they can change dramatically if the birth time is off by much. Use the spreadsheet provided with this article, make several computer copies to play with the individual and additional data; just cut and paste aa needed. Keep your original clean. If you hand cast your charts or do your research by hand, make several photocopies and cut and paste as needed. Keep your original clean. I enjoy feedback.

*Frances McEvoy writes (12/90) that the “official records” were never official and Buckingham Palace never gave a recorded time. In 8/1980 Queen Elizabeth herself announced that the customarily given data was in error and that she’d been born in London, not Herts as stated. She then told the story of the family being detained from going to the country Friday night because of her mother going into labor. Her father, after making sure that his wife and child were well, was away after Saturday breakfast to his country home, and he did not record the birth until six weeks later. Frances McEvoy continues, “I have had English friends on the trail for years and one, Cicely Waterman, an acquaintance of Princess Diana’s grandmother, came up with the time of soon after midnight on August 4th and no later than 1:00 AM for the birth of the Queen.” Source Frank Clifford, UK

**Diurnal: Plug in the natal chart then change the date only to the event date.

First published on All Things Healing website February 2011, republished with slight editing.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.