The Wedding Chart: Private Vows, Public Commitment
It was gorgeous: the frocks, the hats, the uniforms, the horses, the cars, the carriages; the music, the abbey, the sweet little choir boys – and a superb sermon by the Bishop of London.
“…Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves…”
The Duchess already has the poise of a queen. (How Capricorn is that?) And the Duke looked delighted. It all went like clockwork.
Yep, they got married today and the also turned into the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, titles given to them by Granny Queen.
Well here it is – the chart for the wedding itself; the moment when the Archbishop of Canterbury said, “I now pronounce you man and wife.” I made it 11.20am on the dot.
You can see it’s a chart for a great public occasion with all that razzmatazz around the MC, and Leo, the sign of putting on the Ritz, rising. Venus and Mars, the lovers are conjunct on the Midheaven – what could be a better symbol of a wedding. Of course, Venus is weak in Aries, but Mars is strong.
I don’t think you can argue with the fact that the Royals are the most powerful family in Britain, so in comparison everyone else is weak. Mars (William) is supporting Venus (Kate) with the help of Mercury (hey, is that just Prince Harry or also Kate’s siblings who were so much in evidence during the ceremony?) Mercury is also the media of course, which get in the middle of everything.
The stellium is joined by Jupiter (pomp and majesty) and Uranus is widely conjuncting Venus. The Duchess really is of the people, so an unusual choice.
The chart’s ruler is the Taurus Sun (king of the planets), of course, in the 10th (the house of the monarch). Taurus is the first earth sign and fixed, so very stable. It’s the sign of the good earth, of the garden, so it was appropriate to decorate the abbey with trees in fresh spring green.
But the Sun is wide of the main stellium in Aries and being trined by Pluto. The state occasion and the private event have slightly separate meanings.
For the prince (the Sun) this is a transforming (Pluto) moment personally. Catherine is, of course, a Capricorn Sun. She is changing him into a husband and I’m sure into a father. But the meaning of this wedding was wider than that.
The strongest planet in this chart is Saturn, which is exalted in the sign of Libra and precisely on an angle. Saturn is a planet particularly associated with the Royal Family. It’s pivotal in the Queen’s chart and that of the new Duchess of Cambridge. It’s the planet of stability, continuity and tradition. Libra is the sign of marriage, so any vows taken now are unusually binding anyway, and with Saturn exactly on the IC, they are even more so. This private solemn promise was broadcast (Mercury conjunct MC) to millions.
What happened today was the marriage of two grown-ups and equals, old enough and wise enough to understand that marriage is serious. Both partners have natal Saturn in Libra, so this is a Saturn Return union. Anyone with William’s childhood traumas is pretty careful about wedlock. It’s hard not to draw parallels with the nuptials of Charles and Diana 30 years ago, during which Diana later described herself as feeling like “a lamb being taken to slaughter”.
The nation itself has been through a full Saturn cycle (see my previous post) since Charles and Di, and perhaps we’ve done some growing up too – less fixated on the “fairytale” and happy to see a an heir to the throne get hitched to his long-term, live-in girlfriend. I can vaguely remember the total hysteria about Diana that preceded that earlier wedding.
The IC is the angle associated with roots, family and country. This pair were making a promise to each other, but also, I think, to the country. They must have discussed this, because as a royal, you are a person but you are also a figurehead, a symbol of the nation itself, and Catherine is now committed to being a queen as well as to being a wife.
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| Catherine’s chart with the new birth time. I’m a little suspicious of this chart, because it seems almost too good to be true. Although it is via a reputable source. |
Her natal chart shows how perfectly she embodies the nation itself, with her Moon in Cancer and Sun in Capricorn, exactly the same positions as the United Kingdom itself. If the latest birth time for her is correct (11.33pm) she also shares an ascendant with the nation.
By carrying on the tradition of a great public wedding, the Duke and Duchess have made a vow to the nation. This was a wedding between two lovers but also between a future king and queen and their people.
(The embroidery on Catherine’s perfectly chosen wedding dress included symbols for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in a unified design. Just quickly on the question of style. The whole show was low-key for a royal event, suggesting that the future queen has got pretty classy taste. Again typical Cap. But also promising a less flashy future monarchy.) (Diana’s train=25ft, Kate’s=8ft, see what I mean.)
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| UK 1801 chart with transit of today. |
It’s long been said by astrologers that Prince Charles, the heir to apparent, will never be king, and Camilla will certainly always be known as consort rather than queen. Now, at last the Windsors have found a pair with broad enough shoulders to carry the burden of the monarchy. They will work as a team, just like Mars and Venus in the chart.
The Void of Course Moon
The Moon in this chart is at 26 Pisces and void of course, which means it’s not going to make any big contacts before moving into Aries.
Most astrologers take this to mean that “nothing will come of the matter”. Me too. Traditionally, it’s a huge no no to schedule an event on a VOC Moon.
However, I just couldn”t believe that in this case. I mean, the wedding happened and we have a new royal, right – done and dusted. We know something will come of this marriage whether we like it or not.
So I found this excellent article by Jenni Stone in an old issue of The Mountain Astrologer, which seems to provide a good explanation for what’s going on. Her work is also a real example of how research-based astrology can suddenly make things click into place.
Stone says that the VOC moon, among many other things, can be a moment when time stands still.
There is no better description of the atmosphere here in Britain today. It’s a national holiday and everyone has simply stopped, downed tools and paused from their normal routine for a moment to just be here now. It’s so quiet on my street, no traffic noise at all…lovely.
Stone also points out that events started under VOC Moon do seem to have unexpected consequences…
A wonderful piece Christina, thank you. I find The resonances between Kate’s chart and the UK to be very reassuring. They’ve taken care not to repeat history here.
That’s right. Kate will be a good little Stepford wife. Diana was too intelligent for them.
Wonderful post, Christine. Thank you for sharing.
On another note, I’ve been feeling the Saturn-Venus opposition lately. But the Moon headed today to conjunct Venus…is just lovely.
Hi Christina,
My compliments for your analysis of the Royal Wedding. The Moon at 26 Pisces is square the Galactic Centre at 27 Sagittarius. The GC is a very strong energy point, so I won’t consider it Void of Course but highly energized.
What do you think about it?
Alessandra
Interesting take on the wedding chart!
May I request the source for the Duchess of Cambridge’s birth time? Many web searches have resulted in little to no information of any accuracy, which surprises me. Astrologers are usually pretty good at winkling out that sort of information.
Thanks for your thoughts.
@Alessandra – good point. I had not thought of that and I feel the feminine was powerful yesterday. Are there any precedents, I wonder.
@Persephone – yes my source was Sky Writer. Donna had the information from Marc Penfield who was connected with Astrodatabank, so pretty reliable I think.
loved it! wonderful writing and I really enjoyed your precise astrology, thank you x
@NR – I’ve been thinking about the Saturn-Venus opp and it can work out in so many ways, bad and good. I hope the good is outweighing the bad for you.
Hey Christina, look what David Roell wrote – I think it’s a bit too dramatic myself:
http://astroamerica.com/newsletters/2011-may03.pdf
hmmm – yes well. I think he’s wrong. You could interpret the astrology that way, but you need to take reality into account when you’re finding the narrative in a chart.
Hm, I just realized I know this story. I was married during my Saturn return shared with my husband’s Saturn return; we have five months and twenty days difference; he is Taurus, I’m a Scorpio (again opposite signs, just reversed Earth – Water). I even gave birth during my Saturn return. I also have my Saturn in the 7th house. However, the divorce happened when Saturn transited the 8th house. I’m not saying this will happen to them, I’m just thinking that sometimes the growing up Saturn offers may not be the one we’d wished or hoped for. It may very well be a nice growing up through having a loving family but it can also be a growing up via being alone against the world and having even more responsibilities (children, money, etc.) Just my two cents, I was striken by the similarities, there are even more actually.
I see what you mean, anonymous. A lot of people do get hitched during that Saturn Return – it’s often make or break time, don’t you think.
I broke during mine. It turned out to be the right thing to do in the end.
Yes, ultimately I believe it turns out to be the right thing as most Saturn lessons. My divorce actually started when he was still transiting the 8th but is ending with Saturn leaving the 8th and moving to the 9th house. Saturn is also my chart ruler and many of my life events have been linked to his movement through the chart.
PLEASE keep this info up and available, and I hope there’s new musings soon on William and Kate.
Fascinating !
An old subject I know, but I noticed it as I do an amount of wedding election, have just spent days and days solid finding a slot for a wedding this year (if possible, put it off till next year!) Note that Saturn in the chart, as the 7th lord, actually represents Katherine. You’d prefer a nice Sun Saturn aspect but there…. And that, together with the VOC Moon, does make me curious… the article by Jenni Stone is really useful and not particularly encouraging re VOC moon and marriage; nor does it aspect the Part of Fortune, traditionally used in election charts. So, one to watch.