As the flag was lowered to half-mast over Windsor Castle today, honoring the Queen who had passed away hours before, a rainbow soared across the sky. In one single photo frame, we could see the symbols of her vast history, her strong and steadfast life, and the beauty Queen Elizabeth was leaving in her wake. I was planning to write about another chart today, but the news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth led me to revisit the chart of this extraordinary lady, who was so loved and will be so missed by people the world over.
What is striking to me is how much the Midheaven in our chart shows how we are seen in our public life. So many tributes call up the words “duty” and “service” and “commitment” in describing Elizabeth’s long and dedicated reign. Saturn right at Elizabeth’s Midheaven tell us that she would carry heavy responsibilities in life and be seen as a leader. In Scorpio, this sense of obligation would be deeply felt and profound – and fixed. Six of Elizabeth’s ten planets and her Midheaven and IC are in fixed signs, showing us the steadfastness she demonstrated in remaining a constant presence as the world radically changed around her.
But this Saturn is the apex of a T-square, emphasizing the tension her responsibilities would create in her life. The Neptune square suggests that she needed to maintain an ideal, and in Leo, the role of an eminent and wise monarch. Opposing Neptune and squaring Saturn are Mars and Jupiter in Aquarius, a forward moving and revolutionary sign. Elizabeth’s reign was challenged throughout the past 70 years by changing times and mores. To stay relevant as a Queen, she needed to appear approachable and relevant, making personal appearances, opening up Buckingham Palace to a wider demographic of her subjects, and even broadcasting over that newfangled invention, the television – all Aquarian topics.
One of her greatest challenges was following the death of Princess Diana, when Elizabeth’s subjects nearly turned against her until she overcame the royal stiff upper lip and spoke openly of her grief and loss. Jupiter and Uranus then were both transiting the populist sign of Aquarius, and Saturn in Aries squared her reserved Capricorn Ascendant. This square was also significant because her nodal axis crosses her Ascendant-Descendant axis, a fateful configuration suggesting one’s life is significant to the masses.
But that Elizabeth was able to both maintain her power and yet bend to the demands of her changing role - to evolve as a monarch and a human being – is indicated by the ruler of her Midheaven and Saturn, Mars, being in mutual reception with Saturn. While Mars in Aquarius wants to overthrow the status quo to create a brave new world, Saturn in Scorpio demands that one hold on at all costs. When these conflicting energies are in mutual reception, they learn to work together and achieve their mutual goals.
But who was Queen Elizabeth away from this formidable Midheaven? Because she was born at night, the Moon in Leo is her primary light. She would not mind having so much attention focused on her throughout her life, and she would enjoy shining her light on others. The eighth house placement of her Moon tells us she would flourish emotionally in a stable long-term partnership, and she would find being of use to others would be very gratifying. The eighth house is complicated, but one topic that seems to come up for me in the charts I have read is that of other’s needs (just as the second house is our own needs). Leo experiences some testing as the eighth house ruler since one could feel a lack of appreciation from those we care for – but with Mars in wide opposition to that Moon, and a Mercury in Aries, I believe she would have learned to speak up over the years when she was feeling slighted.
Queen Elizabeth, especially in her later years, presented as a happy person. You could see the sparkle in her eyes, the festive colors she chose to wear (loved those dresses and matching hats!), and her kind and warm statements expressing support for her family and her love for her subjects and empathy for their struggles. Born with the Sun in Taurus in the fifth house of pleasure, she had a lifelong love of the outdoors and country pursuits. She adored her horses and her dogs and had said that she could have been very happy living as a simple country woman.
This Taurus Sun is especially enhanced by its ruler, Venus, being exalted in Pisces. The planet that loves to connect and create blooms in the sign of boundless caring, inspiration, and peace. In the third house of her everyday environment, Queen Elizabeth over the long years of her life would have learned to relish the natural beauties around her as well as the kindness of those who wished her well.
While we will remember Queen Elizabeth as a faithful, dedicated, exemplary monarch, her chart reminds us to honor her as a simple human being who understood how blessed we are who live on this earth, how deeply our words and gestures can touch others’ lives, and how we are changing and growing until we draw our last breath.
