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Good Night, Sweet Prince: Prince Philip Passes


photo: Half-Mast by Sanshiro

On April 9th, 2021, Buckingham Palace announced the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, just two months shy of his 100th birthday. The couple had been married 73 years, making Philip the longest-serving consort in British history, with four children, eight grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren (and another on the way).

Philip’s story was a remarkable one. Born on June 10, 1921 (no time available) to a younger son of the King of Greece on a dining room table in Corfu, Philip’s family was exiled from their homeland when the Greeks voted to abolish their monarchy, just 18 months after his birth. Nothing more would likely have been heard of him, but the landless princeling gravitated to his mother’s family in England, joined the Royal Navy, and caught the eye of the heiress presumptive to the British throne, Princess Elizabeth. Much of his biography is depicted in asteroids in his birth chart, and his death was similarly heralded by celestial factors.

A seagoing profession is easy to see, with the 18° Gemini Sun conjunct Mars (military service) and asteroid Navi (for “navy”) at 24° and 28° Gemini, squared Saturn (career) with Poseidon (the asteroid, not the Uranian planet), named for the Greek god of the seas, at 18° and 25° Virgo (which navy he would favor is seen by asteroid Britten (homophone of “Britain”) at 20° Virgo, between them). As well, Philip had asteroid Saylor (homophone for “sailor”) at 19° Taurus in close trine to career-minded Saturn, with asteroid Philippa (feminine version of Philip, and its closest celestial match) at 13° Leo conjoined Neptune, planetary ruler of the sea and seamen, providing a highly personal connection to a life at sea.

Philippa also connects Philip to his titles, conjoined asteroid Duke at 14° Leo, and sesquiquadrate asteroid Prinz (German form of “prince”) at 1° Capricorn. Most striking is asteroid Edinburgh itself, which at 8° Taurus conjoins Venus at 5° Taurus and is in a Grand Trine with Jupiter at 10° Virgo and asteroid Juno at 10° Capricorn. This portrays his royal (Jupiter) title (Edinburgh) as a result of his partnership (Juno) with his wife (Venus). Juno’s opposition to Pluto at 7° Cancer creates a Kite pattern and illustrates the total transformation of circumstance (Pluto) which the union (Juno) would bring, with its huge increase in personal power (Pluto also).

That Elizabeth would be the key ingredient to Philip’s biography is foreshadowed by asteroid Elisabetha (closest to Elizabeth) at station in his nativity, trine the Sun and turning retrograde at 25° Aquarius ten days after his birth. Stationary bodies carry immense weight and are formative agents in character or biography; in this case, the precise nature of the connection between them is seen in Elisabetha’s conjunction with asteroid Hera, named for the Greek goddess of marriage, at 26° Aquarius, also squared asteroid Regina, Latin for “queen”, at 26° Scorpio (just in case anybody was wondering which Elizabeth he’d marry!).

When Prince Philip’s death was announced at 12:01 p.m. BST on April 9, 2021 at Windsor Castle, asteroids Atropos (named for the mythic Greek Fate who severs the thread of life at death) and Prinz at 22° Cancer and 1° Leo respectively were rising on the 28° Cancer Ascendant, opposing Pluto, modern lord of death, at 26° Capricorn on the Descendant. A Grand Cross is formed with asteroid Duke at 29° Aries, opposing asteroid Philippa at 25° Libra. The IC of the moment, 2° Libra, was an exact match for Philip’s natal asteroid Rip, which functions as a death indicator in the form of the acronym “RIP”, “Rest In Peace”, a common tombstone inscription.

Incredibly, asteroid Edinburgh at 20° Gemini exactly conjoins asteroid Anubis, named for the Egyptian deity governing funerary rites, and these conjoin Philip’s natal Sun at 18° Gemini. Edinburgh/Anubis also conjoins transit Mars at 21° Gemini (about to return to its natal degree) and squares transit Neptune with asteroid Osiris (named for the Egyptian god of the dead) at 20° and 23° Pisces.

Transit asteroid Nemesis, a point known for ruin, destruction and undoing, had just come to its retrograde station four days earlier at 12° Sagittarius, exactly conjunct Philip’s natal asteroid Osiris and broadly opposed his Sun, marking the literal “turning point” in his life.

Bio: Alex Miller is a professional writer and astrologer, specializing in deep space points and minor bodies of the solar system. A past president of Philadelphia Astrological Society and currently a member of the board for the Philadelphia chapter of NCGR, Alex is the author of The Black Hole Book, detailing the use of black holes in astrological interpretation, and Cat o’ Nine Tales, a memoir of his cat rescue work. He has been chronicling the effects of asteroids and other minor bodies since 2005, much of which can be found at his website: alexasteroidastrology. Alex can be reached at glaktix@verizon.net

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