Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Natal Chart
Born August 4 1981, 04:46 AM, Los Angeles (CA)
[118.15W 34.03N / 7W00, 11:46 AM UT]`
Image via Astrotheme
It has been pretty hard to ignore the very strong public reaction to Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (nee Markle's) entry into the British Royal Family. The spring of 2018 was dominated with headlines about her nuptials and its injection of modern love, vis a vis her nationality and race, into the royal family. This is a rather natural consequence of the relationship she is in and the tremendous publicity around her husband of choice. The scrutiny and fanfare were certain to have been expected and planned for.
What was NOT to be expected, unless you were doing a deep-dive into her chart before her ascendence to such a high position, is the utter nastiness and bewildering assaults on her character and position by her father and her half-siblings in the media. Most people can intuit without the need for a professional astrological analysis that there appears to be a tremendous amount of jealousy, power-struggles, and attention-seeking, and an inferiority complex being exhibited by her family members in their communications, often paid ones, to the press. It is painful to see someone so aggressed so publicly by the people you would expect to be the most loyal and proud of Meghan for her career achievements, and for finding love that just happened to come with a royal title. But this is the world we live in and, for better or worse, the handprints of her family strife are laid out clearly in her chart.
Setting aside her 2018 transits for a moment, just looking at her natal chart several things jump out.
Pluto in the 4th House
Pluto opposite MC
Pluto square Ascendant
Mars in the 12th House
Mars square MC
Mars square her Moon/Saturn/Jupiter-conjunction in her 3rd House
Moon/Saturn/Jupiter-conjunction opposite her MC
Jesus Christ. Okay, so if you're going to have issues with your family, one or two of these would probably suffice. But this is a long list of very challenging aspects, giving her a strong predisposition to major conflict with those closest to her.
Pluto in the 4th is a clear indicator of power-struggles in her early home life. This could have manifested in being controlled, aggressed, and/or manipulated in her childhood by someone with an iron will. Her home life likely was volatile and subject to complete reversals of emotional and physical security which then had to be rebuilt.
Pluto opposing her MC indicates that conditions of her early home life are likely a significant factor in her current public life, with an almost push/pull between taking care of what was required of her on the domestic front and what she wanted to achieve out in the real world. With Aries sitting on her MC cusp, she is overwhelmingly driven to succeed in her own manner and on her own merit. She is made of tough stuff, which is evidenced in her being able to bear the public criticism of herself and her marriage and push forward with her own agenda. She likely fought hard to release herself from what could have been a controlling environment during her youth.
But unfortunately her achievements seem to invite more attacks from within and from the outside. That same Pluto (her home / childhood) is square her ascendant, meaning her family life is still a constant challenge to her soul's evolution during this lifetime. It is not likely they will lay down their weapons anytime soon. Meghan unfortunately may contribute to her problems in a way she can't see: her Mars is posited in her 12th house. She may have a tendency to be passive-aggressive or completely hide her anger and personal aggression (which we are all entitled to and is part of healthy ego expression), and this is does not do any favors to her public image (natal Mars square her MC). This likely leaves her Aries Midheaven/MC quite frustrated at times as it so much wants to forge ahead and fight but is held back by doubt and a feeling of not being able to properly assert its will. This suppressed Mars is likely a coping strategy born from the Plutonic early home life. Standing up for herself and asserting herself may not come easy.
Her Moon/Saturn/Jupiter conjunction sits in her 3rd House (and opposite her MC), her house of siblings. It is squared by her inappropriately passive Mars in the 12th house and this is where you find her bullying, critical siblings. Her siblings are incredibly emotional (Moon) and critical (Saturn) for all the world to see (Jupiter/MC). And all of this in a hard square to her Mars placement can mean any move she makes leaves her siblings feeling attacked through any passive-aggression and any desire not to include them, and they will be as vocal and dramatic as possible expressing their displeasure (3rd House). Who needs enemies when you can have a family like this?
I hope for everyone's sake, and especially Meghan's, they can learn to detach from this unhealthy dynamic and live own their lives. Meghan's emotional steadiness and optimism (Moon Conjunct Saturn/Jupiter) should help keep her head up as she pushes her way through the many fights she'll have with her family of origin in the future.