Kate’s midlife (hair) crisis
Poor Kate - imagine living in a world where this tiny hair tweak causes such a kerfuffle! With the internet speculating wildly about her situation, let's dive into her chart and the current transits impacting her energetically. Is Kate ok? Is the hair a cry for help? Or is she a sexy midlife woman out of control?
Transits are the technique of watching how the current position of planets in the sky interact with our natal birth chart (which is a frozen moment of time). Above we’ve got Kate’s natal chart in the centre, and the outside circle shows where the planets are now. I’ve circled in yellow to show that Kate has both Jupiter and Venus currently triggering her chart. Jupiter brings a juicy period of time, when confidence and optimism are high. We’re laughing more, and the mood is good. Particularly when it’s transiting the Moon, which is a marker of our emotional state. Venus is a quicker influence that brings in warmth, enjoyment and fun. It’s sitting on Kate’s Ascendent, so she may be feeling attractive and generally well.
So the media can relax, because Kate is currently feeling great! No doubt after several tough years, this summer has been glorious. She’s in remission and feeling the most free and relaxed that she's been in years. There's nothing to worry about here – the hair epitomises the happy mindset. Yay! Jupiter is also sitting opposite Kate’s Sun. This could indicate a challenge from a person or circumstance that has her reassessing who she is. Jupiter asks for more freedom. It needs some room to move and thrives on adventure. Kate’s usual state of traditional compliance is being questioned. Girlfriend wants that extra five minutes to do as she pleases, not be brushed and moulded into royal submission.
Image 2 shifts us to June 2026 and we can see some longer term influences at play. The yellow oval tracks ‘should’ planet Saturn opposing her natal Mars and the Green oval is her ‘Uranus Opposition’ which occurs to everyone at some stage in their early 40s.
Saturn/Mars shows potential frustrations and obstacles (probably people) that she’ll really need patience to deal with. Mars is our action and assertion function. Kate’s sits in Libra - a more passive placement that gives her a compliant edge. It’s easy for her to get along with others, and she’s motivated to keep the peace. When opposed by Saturn, there’s a sense of blockage - a force coming to oppose her natural desires. This usually manifests as people getting in the way of what we want to do. We can speculate that this could be Royal aids demanding cooperation or more broadly the media tracking her movements. All of it is tiresome. Some physical exhaustion is possible and moments of feeling flat and depressed are likely (Saturn is also starting to square her Moon).
On it’s own, it’s totally manageable - more rest and increased free time would solve it. However if we layer over the Uranus influence, then we might be seeing a different picture. All of us go through a Uranus opposition around age 41-44 and I'm obsessed with its impact - it can be smooth sailing, trigger major events, cause people to chuck their lives in or simply manifest with someone wanting to do something different with their look - it's part of breaking free and finding a new level of authenticity. It's a blessing and gift that comes with midlife, when we release ourselves from the expectations of society.
At the moment, Kate will have fewer and fewer f**ks to give. When we layer this over the Saturn influence, we might see a more ‘me first’ Kate. Cancer is transformative, and she’ll be now left with an altered perspective. Royal or not, she’s glimpsed her mortality and will now need to live in closer alignment to her personal values. It might be that she streamlines where she puts her attention. She will definitely need to carve out more time for herself. We can expect her partnership with William to also be transforming behind closed doors. Since Uranus rules her Descendant (which sits at 3 o’clock, opposite the Ascendant), which is the point of partnership, her marriage will need to adjust. Perhaps it already has. Regular folks would be under the risk of separation with this influence (Astro nerd alert: Kate also has the progressed moon hitting her Descendant this year). But Kate seems so devoted to her family and life that it’s hard to imagine things getting that far. Perhaps they are quietly rebelling behind the scenes, trying to rejig Royal life to suit them more authentically.
But right now Kate is fine. She's good, actually. But those poor folks fretting about a modified hairdo might need to reach for the valium - Kate is going to embrace and prioritise herself even more in the coming 18 months. Personally I'm here for it! She's survived cancer and has earned the right to push royal protocols. Let’s all watch and wait and see how things pan out.