Prince Philip was this evening flown to Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire where he underwent a medical procedure to avert a heart attack after he suffered chest pains during the traditional Christmas Royal family gathering at Sandringham. The 90 year old Duke according to reports had a artery blockage cleared and should make a recovery in the next few days. Looking at the Astrology of the situation, it is easy to see how this came about, however the wider picture shows that the Duke’s role and life in general will change very soon.
Prince Philip was born on the island of Corfu in Greece on 10th June 1921 at 21.46 hrs. He is a chatty Sun sign Gemini with a proud royal Leo Moon and seriously minded Capricorn Ascendant. It is very noticeable that most of his planet lie on the Western hemisphere of the chart, so he thinks of others far more than he thinks of himself. For someone who has had a public role such as his, this orientation I think is why his marriage to Queen Elizabeth has been so successful for so many years. The Leo Moon can be a bit pompous, and the Duke has been known to be rather outspoken and more than a bit blunt shown graphically by his Mercury conjunct Pluto trine to Uranus opposite his Ascendant, however his selflessness far outweighs the odd misplaced comment, Geminis can rarely if ever keep their thoughts close to their chest. After all, their instinct in life is to communicate. With Sun Mars and Pluto in the 6th house of everyday work, the prince has fantastic stamina and he still conducted 400 official engagements in the pat year despite celebrating his 90th birthday. He is very dutiful and hard working with a Sun Saturn square. This is a rather humble aspect especially with Saturn in Virgo, and despite his elevated position I think deep inside he does sometimes feel somewhat inadequate and full of self-doubt. This inhibition would have stemmed in the main from a very strict father and upbringing shown by the square. The Capricorn Ascendant rather echoes this. Sometimes those with Capricorn rising can feel incredible confidence, yet at other times they can feel so inhibited that they fear even going out to face people and situations head on. Saturn in Virgo guarantees that he will be a stickler for order and detail, even obsessively so.
The Ascendant forms the driving force for a wonderfully positive kite formation based around the Ascendant/Pluto opposition on his chart, connected to a Jupiter trine to Venus. This is a man who loves luxury and a loving home. Venus is in Taurus which is very steadfast and loyal in love and Jupiter is in Virgo too, showing that this is a man who can see the bigger picture as well the details within. Being second fiddle to the Queen is not a problem to the Duke, who with this Jupiter has a modest demeanour and is rarely looking to be centre-stage.
There is a second kite formation on his chart based around a lucky Jupiter/Uranus opposition, again completed by aspects to the Ascendant and Venus. This is a wonderful combination, open, free, fun and always willing to take a risk or too. It is also very loving and shows somebody who will keep one’s partner on their toes. Neptune sits in the 7th house square to Venus. Philip would have dreamed as a young man that he would be looking for his Princess, his perfect woman. In Princess Elizabeth as she then was, he found her.
Moving on to today and the current transits, Philip’s heart scare is shown by transiting Mars exactly conjunct to his natal Saturn and square to the Sun, activating his Saturn Sun square. The Sun rules the heart in medical astrology and sits in Philip’s 6th house of personal health and the quick trip from Sandringham to Papworth was shown by Aries (Mars’ sign) being intercepted in the 3rd house of short journeys and transport. Capricorn (Saturn’s sign) sits on the Ascendant so this situation affected his body and person and the danger to his life was shown by the Mars Saturn conjunction in 8th house of transformation & death. The fact that the duke survived and was in the right place at the right time I think was helped by the fact that the transiting Nodes are currently square to lucky Jupiter in medical Virgo and that transiting Jupiter is currently opposite his Midheaven.
Early next year however, transiting Pluto will hit the Duke’s ascendant which will herald a change in his life. It is currently just under a degree from being opposite his natal Pluto, which will herald a slowdown for him and the conjunction to the Ascendant will I believe mean that he will scale down enormously his public engagements. This heart condition should be a shot across the bows for the Duke, especially as Pluto does sit in the 6th house of health. If he does not heed the warning now, he will pay again a higher price when the Ascendant connection is made. Transiting Saturn also sounds a warning as it is circling around his North Node and close to his Midheaven. Normally this would be a time of very hard work and rewards, but considering this health scare and the fact that Saturn is linked to his physical being through the Ascendant sign, he should be very careful of pushing himself.