Some icons do live forever.
August 31, 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana. Beloved for her indomitable spirit, staggering honesty and unfailing generosity, the gravity of the loss of the “People’s Princess” is still felt today.
In honor of the woman she was and the fascination and devotion she continues to inspire, we are looking at Diana’s birth chart and studying the aspects that challenged her and the stars that made her.
Born July 1, 1961, Princess Diana, or Diana as she preferred to be called, fell under the zodiac sign of Cancer. Cancer rules the fourth house of home and ancestry and natives are noted for their great empathy, nurturing capabilities and acute sensitivities, qualities distilled in the famously charitable Diana.
Sun in Cancer / Moon in Aquarius
Ruled by the rapidly changing moon, Cancers are oceanic in their emotions and prone to moodiness and melancholia. Diana, who suffered from depression was no exception, what made her exceptional was that she was one of the first royals to speak openly about her struggles with mental health, a disclosure that speaks to her lunar placement.
Diana was born with her moon in Aquarius, the sign of the subtle revolutionary and the grand humanitarian. A Cancer sun and an Aquarius moon marry the personal and the universal and suggest a progressive kind of caretaking. Here the archetype of the mother is offered for the benefit of the collective.
In Diana’s birth chart we have fearless and deep compassion coupled with an understanding of her own power to change the perceptions of others. We see the combined effect of Diana’s sun and moon in her choice to be filmed shaking hands with an HIV patient in 1987, a time when fear mongering and false information around the disease were rampant.
Dispelling the rumor that the disease could be spread by touch, Diana in a single gesture, reminded the world that compassion is not only what we are capable of, but what we as humans are compelled to offer one another. Journalist July Wade argued, “Shaking hands with an AIDS patient is the most important thing a royal’s done in 200 years.”
We see the same energy at work in 1997 when Diana walked through a live minefield in Angola to draw the attention of the world and call for an international ban on landmine, a trek her youngest son Harry would make in her honor a quarter century later.
Diana’s ascendant was in the seeking, adventurous, good will bringing sign of Sagittarius. There is an optimistic and unapologetic energy to those with this ascendant and as she described herself and in turn everyone who shares this ascendant, “I like to be a free spirit. Some don’t like that, but that’s the way I am.” Sagittarius rising folk laugh easily, ruffle feathers naturally and prize freedom above all other pursuits. Tellingly, Diana had the word “obey” omitted from her wedding vows.
Mars in Virgo
Diana had Mars, planet of action and will, in the shrewd sign of Virgo. Here, Mars is service oriented, deeply observational, highly analytical, and prone to paranoia. This is a power position for Mars and the only thing an individual with this placement fears is being caught unaware or made a fool of, fears we see expressed in Diana who was burdened by belief that she was under surveillance not just from the constant onslaught of the press but by the watchful eyes of the Royal family. We also see her refusal to have the wool pulled over her eyes or the mistress under her nose in the direct, boss bi**h way she confronted Camilla Parker Bowles at a birthday party.
Venus in Taurus
Venus is the planet of pleasure, of aesthetics, art and attachment. Diana’s Venus was on its home turf in the sensual sign of Taurus. This placement supports her boldly made and remembered fashion choices. Lady Di’s first sartorial declaration came in 1981 when she wore a black strapless gown in her first post engagement outing. According to British Vogue, “The Emanuel design made front-page news because of its color (black, a symbol of mourning, was not deemed appropriate for an evening function) and its silhouette (form-fitting and shoulder-exposing).”
In the hindsight of their marriage dissolving, perhaps a symbol of morning was a bit of a premonition on the part of the highly intuitive Diana. Evidence of the cooperation of Diana’s service driven Mars and indulgent Venus can be found in her auctioning 79 of her gowns to benefit cancer and AIDS causes just two months before her death.
The influence of Saturn
Saturn represents structure, hard earned wisdom, punishment, the status quo and quintessential dad vibes. Diana’s Saturn was in its domicile in Capricorn in her first house, indicating that she was forced to grow up fast. Indeed, her parents divorced when she was six and a bitter custody battle ensued. This coupled with her sun in Cancer speaks to Diana’s desire to foster a family of her own and provide the kind of maternal support she needed but was herself never supplied.
Diana grew up privileged and pained, a combination that prepared her for entrance into the gates of royalty, the influence of Saturn gave her traditional appeal but in the end that was a sort of brilliant bait and switch. Once she was in, she could begin, in her way to unmake that machine by becoming wholly and unrepentantly herself.
Diana’s first and only Saturn return coincided with the end of her marriage to Prince Charles. Everyone that lives to see their thirties lives to see their Saturn return and often this astrological occurrence coincides with an irrevocable life change related to authority or previous established life structures; in Diana’s case her return was pointed, public and concerned her break with the royal family and subsequent loss of her title and establishment of herself as an independent entity.
Diana’s Saturn in Capricorn squared her Venus in Taurus, a difficult aspect that indicates natives suffer from feelings of unworthiness especially when it comes to love and self-acceptance. Diana’s brother spoke to this when he eulogized his sister at her televised funeral, “Diana explained to me once that it was her innermost feelings of suffering that made it possible for her to connect with her constituency of the rejected. And here we come to another truth about her.
For all the status, the glamour, the applause, Diana remained throughout a very insecure person at heart, almost childlike in her desire to do good for others so she could release herself from deep feelings of unworthiness of which her eating disorders were merely a symptom. The world sensed this part of her character and cherished her for her vulnerability whilst admiring her for her honesty.”
Indeed, the square aspect, supported by the compassion of her sun sign and the resolve of her moon, enabled Diana to use her own suffering as a conduit to connect with others and advocate for them, a power that continues to resonate today. Nearly three decades after her loss, Diana is remembered as she always hoped she would be; not as queen of a country, but of the hearts of her people.
Astrology 101: Your guide to the stars
Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. She is also an accomplished writer who has profiled a variety of artists and performers, as well as extensively chronicled her experiences while traveling. Among the many intriguing topics she has tackled are cemetery etiquette, her love for dive bars, Cuban Airbnbs, a “girls guide” to strip clubs and the “weirdest” foods available abroad.
