Prince William
entered official adulthood on June 21, 2000—his eighteenth birthday. The
impression he has increasingly been giving as he embraces more of a public
role is that of a charming and apparently well-balanced young man. Extremely
handsome, he now has a worldwide female fan club! What kind of person
is William, and what sort of king is he likely to be?
Born
on an Eclipse: A Life Directed by Fate?
Prince
William was born in London, England, at 9:03 pm, on June 21, 1982. His
birth took place just after a solar eclipse at the Summer Solstice, an
especially powerful moment in time where Sun, Moon and North Node were
closely aligned in the baby prince’s Seventh House (relationships) in
the emotional sign of Cancer (feeling, caring and nurturing).
Eclipses
are the great power points of the zodiac. They run through space and time
in regular series called Saros cycles. The Saros cycles take about 1200
years to travel from the North to the South Pole, and vice versa. Each
series has a different founding horoscope and a different theme.
William was
born into a series called 2 Old North, which began in 792 AD, just before
the first recognized English king, Egbert, was crowned. It is due to end
in 2036 AD, when William is 54. This raises many questions. The most obvious
is whether William, if he becomes the king of Great Britain, might in
fact be the last.
The meaning
of the Saros 2 Old North Series is said to be that of “separation or ending
of unions,” a theme very clearly lived out in William’s life to date.
He has had to endure his parents’ separation in December 1992, their subsequent
divorce and his mother’s shocking death on August 31, 1997, when he was
only fifteen. The intensely public way in which those dramatic events
unfolded has adversely affected the British public’s attitude toward the
monarchy, and may have a serious impact in years to come.
The solar
eclipse under which William was born connects strongly with the Cancer
Sun of his great-great-uncle Edward VIII, who gave up the British throne
for the love of Wallis Simpson in 1936. His father, Prince Charles, did
the opposite, putting royal duty before his love for Camilla when he married
the Cancerian Diana, William’s mother, in 1981. Perhaps William’s intensely
emotional nature and powerful need for relationship will, in due time,
provoke a crisis for both man and nation, with the theme of Sun (kingship)
eclipsed by Moon (emotional needs, female partner) arising again in the
British royal family.
A
Private, Caring Man: Sun and Moon in Cancer
The Cancerian
emphasis brings a powerful drive to care for, cherish and protect others
(Sun), and a strong need to give and receive emotional safety, privacy
and security (Moon) that is focused on personal relationships (Seventh
House). Princess Diana also had a Cancer Sun in the Seventh House; William
should thus inherit her legendary ability to make people feel cherished,
important and safe.
The Cancerian
line-up is challenged by a harsh square (90 degree aspect) from Mars and
Saturn in the relationship-oriented sign of Libra. This clash indicates
William’s strong sense of duty and commitment to others’ well being, which
may often come into conflict with his own needs. It also illustrates the
potential for loss of loved ones, which became tragically real in August
1997.
Although
there is a painful, vulnerable dimension to the intense sensitivity and
deep feeling nature that goes with a Cancerian emphasis, the combination
of Sun and Moon in Cancer carries many gifts, too. Its association with
love of history, tradition and the past is already evident in William’s
choice of art history as his major university subject. He has chosen to
go to St. Andrews, one of the oldest universities in Scotland. He should
also be emotionally perceptive, and capable of deep and lasting love,
as well as having a powerful, poetic imagination.
With this
placement he is likely to be canny and shrewd in any business dealings—very
helpful if you are as rich as he is! Also, as king, he would be very conscious
of the importance of upholding Great Britain’s national traditions and
very concerned with the welfare of all its citizens.
Adventure
Calls: Sagittarius Rising and a Strongly Placed Jupiter
The Cancerian
emphasis on privacy and introversion greatly contrasts with the outgoing,
adventurous and dynamic side to Prince William shown by the strong emphasis
in his horoscope on the Sagittarian theme, its ruling planet Jupiter and
its associated house, the Ninth. This shows that William is a philosophical
man driven to “boldly go” in pursuit of adventure, education, mind-broadening
experience and ethical principles through which life can be lived as positively
as possible.
Jupiter in
Roman mythology was the king of the gods. William has
Jupiter conjunct his Midheaven (career/vocation point), which is a classic significator
for the birth of a king. So he is likely to be very well aware of his
royal status and the power and influence that goes with it.
Prince
William in the New Millenium
It is evident
already that William will not be a mere playboy king-in-waiting. The astrology
of this year is very interesting in describing his unfolding path. Eclipse
patterns repeat in an eighteen-year cycle, and the return of the Cancer
eclipse series under which he was born took place on July 1, 2000, bringing the
theme of caring for others to the fore, and reminding him that his mother’s
legacy is ready to be taken up.
The adventurous
planet Jupiter, so strongly placed at birth in the vocational angle of
his horoscope, is also very active in the skies right now, influencing
the sectors concerning how he uses his personal creativity and communicative
ability (Mercury in Fifth House) in offering something positive and innovative
to the human family (Uranus in Eleventh House).
In October,
the young prince flew off to Santiago, the capital of Chile. The project,
for which he raised his expense money himself, was to spend ten weeks
working with Raleigh International, the UK’s leading youth development
charity, which takes youngsters between the ages of seventeen and 25 on
challenging projects in deprived overseas environments. Reports in the
national and international press and TV last month show what a success
he has made of this project, and how well he has got on with everyone
regardless of age or status.
The adventurous
planet Jupiter, still located in the Sixth House (work and service), will
be conjuncting William's Mercury (communication, varied stimulation) again
in April 2001, and making a flowing link to his Mars in Libra (action
in relationship with others) in the Ninth House of foreign travel, education
and learning. It looks from this as though he'll be taking off on his
travels again this spring on a trip that brings testing and maturing experiences
and big lessons in relationships (Saturn in Libra in the Ninth House)
his way.
Both his
parents, whatever their personal faults and weaknesses, put a lot of energy
into good causes. From what we know of William to date, it looks as though
he will be following in their footsteps, dedicating a lot of his energy
as a king-in-waiting to the welfare of his people, and to the wider human
community.
Notes
For more
information on the Saros cycle see Bernadette Brady's article "The
Saros Cycle: Eclipses Come in Families."
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