The Butler, The Princess, and The Book

by Isabelle Ghaneh

Editors note: Since this article was first published it has come to our attention that the data that Isabelle has used for Paul Burrell may be unreliable. Whilst the data quoted by Isabelle has been commonly accepted in astrological circles for some time, in his book "A Royal Duty" Burrell states that he was born on "a summer's evening" in Chesterfield on 6 June 1958.

Paul Burrell, born June 8, 1958 time unknown, in Grossmere, England (noon chart right), was born a talkative, inquisitive Gemini with his Sun at 17 degrees of Gemini and his Mercury at 5 degrees of Gemini. Princess Diana was born July 1, 1961, 7:45 pm, Sandringham, England with Sagittarius rising at 18 degrees. (Diana's chart appears in the November issue of Transit in Diana, Saint or Sinner by Judith Levy).

They say opposites attract but in this case Diana was not Paul's opposite but his twin. A sign which is the polar opposite of one's own is not its opposite in the sense a psychologist would mean it. Taurus/Scorpio natives have much more in common than Taurus/Gemini for instance or Taurus/Aries. Geminians and Sagittarians are on the same wavelength in many ways. And Paul's Sun was directly placed on Diana's descendant; her 7th house of partners and open enemies, meaning the link between them was profound indeed.

To say they understood one other is putting it mildly. Paul has his Moon in Pisces, (the exact degree cannot be ascertained without the time), the Moon was just beginning its trek though Pisces the day he was born, so Pisces it is, no matter Paul's time of birth. A Pisces Moon person filters feelings through water, much the way an Aquarius or Libra Moon filters feelings through the intellect. Gemini is an air sign and Paul would have a struggle between his ego, his inner sense of self, being very thought minded and his feelings being all caught up in the murkiness of Pisces, which is watery, emotional and very empathetic. He would allow his heart to rule his head, hence his outbursts at the princes and the Spencer family; they are heartfelt.

His Mercury being Gemini means that he blurts out the first thing he thinks and his emotions being Piscean means that he is overwhelmed with feelings. Not a good match for a talk show guest at times; although the witty Gemini would love the ability to be before the cameras and speak to call in viewers, since Gemini also rules communication.

Now, Paul's Saturn, the great taskmaster of the sky, is at 22 degrees of Sagittarius opposite his Sun and also conjunct Diana's Ascendant. Another profound link between them; explaining the duty, loyalty and yes sometimes burden he felt in taking care of her, and he did strongly feel he was taking care of her. That is very important to know. He does believe he is keeping her memory alive with his book, he does believe he and he alone understands her and that he and he alone must persevere in his duties to her, even if it means thrashing out verbally at who or what he considers her enemies.

Paul's Venus at 8 Taurus, which is in her 4th house, and conjunct the cusp of Diana's 5th house of romance, children and enjoyment shows his love of beautiful things and the things Diana gave to him he treasured. Having them put on public display, as the items he allegedly stole from her according to the royal family would have cut him very deeply. In addition this close connection shows he was half in love with her in a brother/sister way most openly, but also in a somewhat fantasy, romantic way. He also loved her children, so them not coming forward when he was facing a prison sentence for what he didn't do and for taking things Diana had given to him did hurt him as badly as he said it did. He has a great emotional involment with both Diana and her sons. Paul's Venus is also directly opposite Diana's Neptune at 8 degrees in Scorpio, reinforcing his fantasy image of her as a kind of goddess here on earth and his deep emotional connection to her.

Paul's Mars is at 0 degrees of Aries, the Aries Point Degree. Now, Mars in Aries makes one always up and running for a fight even if there isn't a fight coming on. So Paul may be quick to channel his emotions into an angry stance of "I have only just begun to fight" whether he needs to or not. He may have a tendency to want to fight to express his feelings, even feelings that are subconscious or beneath the surface. An Aries Point Degree is a very powerful placement. The Aries Point is the beginning of the zodiac and as such anything that aspects it is something that must be noticed and attention called to. It also can mean being noticed on a worldwide scale.

Paul has another 0 degree in his chart, his north node, the karmic aspect, which shows what karma we have coming to us of good as opposed to the south node, its direct opposite, showing the bad karma if you will. For a less esoteric belief system, it simply means where you can see good coming to you in the natal chart and where you can see not so good coming to you. For Paul this aspect is at 0 Scorpio and south node is at 0 Taurus. South node at 0 Taurus expresses itself as loving and wanting beautiful things, and wanting to live in luxurious surroundings. Now you may ask how is it possible to have a downside to wanting beautiful things and living in a beautiful environment? Well, that need is coupled with what he may decide to do to get them for himself, and, with 0 Scorpio as his good fortune placement, he may have felt anything he did to get them was okay. He also may have felt it was his good fortune to be in that environment and then discovered all the palace intrigue once he got there, i.e. all the secrets he had to keep.

In all honesty, for a Gemini Sun and Mercury keeping secrets is a very hard thing, they are almost bursting with news and need to tell someone, much as the little girl in the Grimm's fairytale had to dig a hole to tell her secrets to. Scorpio is the sign of secrecy and intrigue par none. Paul may have allowed his need for things to come before all else. That is how a north/south node works, the north node uses our strength and the south node uses our weakness. This may have happened to Paul even without his knowing it. It is what caused him to get in trouble and come before the public at large and stand the risk of imprisonment. Did he take too much, did Diana give him too much? Who can say?

Paul's Chiron, the wounded healer, at 22 Aquarius is conjunct Diana's Moon at 25 Aquarius and her own south node. Diana as a Cancer Sun was powerfully influenced by the Moon since the Moon rules Cancer. Paul felt a great need to heal Diana and her emotions, which as we know could many times be expressed negatively; the suicide attempts, the bulimia, the depressions. He may have felt almost as a nursemaid at times. Needing to cure her was a big part of their relationship whether he knew it consciously or not. Diana's south node at 28 degrees of Leo was conjunct the fixed star Regulus, the Persian star of royalty and conjunct Paul's Pluto of 29 degrees. He saw her as did most of his generation, since Pluto is a generational planet, as true royalty, a real to the manor born kind of girl, especially considering his and most people's humble origins. She really was a princess in a fairy tale to Paul, and to many of the public at large. In Diana's natal chart her south node is one of the most elevated points in the chart, and we surely know now how her royal ambitions turned out for her, certainly not the fairy tale she imagined it to be.

Now, without going through all the trial information which was over and done with in November 2002, lets look at the book publication date of October 27, 2003. (noon chart right) The Sun was in Scorpio at 3 degrees conjunct Paul's north node. Again we see the karma of the situation, or again for those who want it plainly, this was really good fortune coming to Paul in more ways than monetarily although that is certainly part of it. Again the downside of the north node is the south node and Paul may, and I say may, have allowed his longing for the nice things in life to overcome his reasoning or to at least play a part in his decision to write the book, no matter what he says. Certainly it does show a close connection to his inner desire to right all wrongs, pay back the person or persons he thinks betrayed him, say what he needs to say to the public at large, spill a few secrets and get some money too. Again its not money in and of itself Paul cares about, it is what it can buy him, the luxurious things of life he so longs for and has an affinity for.

Mercury in the book chart is at 4 degrees of Scorpio inconjunct Paul's Mercury. An inconjunct aspect shows discordance and tension and being at odds with each other. Paul's version of events or Paul's way of getting out the truth may not jive with what the book actually says. In other words his message may not be received by the reading public as he intends it to be. He may be surprised to discover that in the days and weeks to come. This book is seen as again dealing with palace intrigue and pettiness and secrets and all that. Paul may think "whew I'm opening up a window and letting some fresh air in here". He may find others don't see it that way, especially the reading public.

Mars is at 5 Pisces in the publishing chart which aspects Diana's Mars by opposition and her Pluto by opposition and may conjoin Paul's Moon in Pisces. Again Diana's Pluto at 6 degrees in Virgo is a generational degree, so Paul will find his book is opposite many people's natal Pluto in Virgo in the early degrees. This is a transiting degree going on now for many of the people born in the time around Diana and it is captured forever in the book chart. Transiting Pluto is at 18 degrees of Sagittarius and it is directly on Diana's Rising sign and directly opposite Paul's Sun. This is a very telling degree and aspect. It links Paul and Diana and the book irrevocably. Pluto opposite the Sun in Paul's chart is the culmination of the past several years of catastrophic trouble he experienced with his trial and possible imprisonment and vilification by the public, and it is on Diana's Ascendant, bringing her again full force to the attention of the mass population. Pluto again is the planet of uncovering what needs to be uncovered, it is the planet of change, sometimes great change and it shows us for who we are from the depths of ourselves. It is the phoenix bird rising from the ashes. It is also a planet ruling nuclear power and when Pluto transits a potent part of our charts we can feel its transformational power in ways we may not anticipate or even desire. Pluto is big, cosmically big and when it conjuncts a Sun, Moon or Ascendant it leaves a lasting trace that we cannot deny.

Transiting Uranus at 28 degrees of Aquarius is conjunct Diana's natal Moon, again bringing all kinds of revelations and changes to her image, and to the way she is perceived by people. Uranus is the earthquake aspect, exactly conjunct Diana's south node, so how she would really feel about Paul's book is debatable. It's interesting to note that Diana's Moon was conjunct the United States Moon and hence we can see her enormous popularity with the American public. She really struck an emotional chord with them. Uranus, which is transiting the American Moon by conjunction, is conjunct Diana's Moon and her south node natally. How well Paul's book will go over in America is again debatable.

Now for just a quick look at Prince William's chart. Prince William was born on July 21, 1982 at 9:03 p.m. in London, England. (chart left) The Prince's Mercury at 8 degrees of Gemini is exactly conjunct Paul Burrells' Mercury. This should make a lasting tie between them and it may be why Prince William is so eager to take up Paul's challenge of speaking to him face to face. Like Paul, Prince William with Mercury in Gemini has a real need to communicate verbally his thoughts and feelings, and Prince William has many deep feelings as an emotional Cancer like his mother Diana. Prince William's Jupiter is at 0 degrees of Scorpio and it conjoins his Midheaven, the 10th house of our career and how other people see us by 2 degrees. It is also retrograde. That may portend future implications for how he will eventually be perceived by the public once he reaches the crown and how he himself feels about being king. But that is another story, a long way off. For now we can again see the ties between Paul and Prince William with his Jupiter again going backwards (since that is what retrograde means) conjunct Paul's north node. Initially at least the prince looked at Paul as a very positive member of his mothers' and his own extended family. Again that is where the hurt and betrayal come from in this saga.

Paul's Neptune, again a generational planet, is at 2 degrees Scorpio and conjunct the prince's midheaven. Looking at the book chart, we can determine that with the Sun, Moon, Mercury and Venus all in Scorpio this is certainly a Scorpionic event. All the best and worst of Scorpio traits would be emphasised in the book chart. Secrecy, passion, intrigue and betrayal are all there, along with the extremes the sign is noted for, people will either love or hate this book, no in between.

Jupiter is the planet which rules publishing and it is in Virgo the sign of the writer. That bodes well for the books success. Jupiter is also trine Chiron, in Capricorn now at 13 degrees. Chiron is itself opposite Saturn which is retrograde at 13 degrees. Healing is coming from this book one way or another, but it may be hard won.

The north node in the book chart is at 20 degrees of Taurus and as such it is opposite Venus at 21 degrees of Scorpio and inconjunct Pluto in Sagittarius at 18 degrees, although the south node is conjunct Venus and semisextile Pluto in Sagittarius. Paul may get the money he wants as Venus is the money planet, but it may not bring him what he desires. Mercury at 4 degrees of Scorpio is square Neptune at 10 degrees of Aquarius and this will manifest itself as a lot of confusion regarding the purpose of the book and what it is trying to say. Mercury is trine Mars and that may well be the best aspect in this chart; communication and anger are being brought out more positively than in a fistfight say or constantly sniping at someone or bottling it all up inside waiting for it to explode. I think the support and understanding of this book will be less than Paul Burrell anticipates and the monetary gains will be less then he expects, in terms of what it actually brings to him, but this was an event Paul needed to do and see to completion.

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