King Richard III – What does astrology say about the “evil deformed” King?

Richard Plantangenat was only King of England for 2 years, the last King of the house of York killed on the battlefield of Bosworth field in 1485, as Henry Tudor, later to be Henry VII backed by French troops swept to victory. His character has been tainted by rumour and accusations, in the main based around the disappearance of the two young “Princes in the Tower”. On the death of his brother King Edward IV, in 1483, he was made Lord Protector over young Edward V who was 12, and his younger 9 year old brother Richard. Holding them in the Tower of London after Edward IV’s marriage was “annulled and declared invalid”, Richard grabbed power as the young Princes “disappeared” and was acclaimed King of England on 6th July 1483. Shakespeare in his play portrayed King Richard III as an evil man with a limp and a crooked back and that image has stuck to this day. He is back in the news now as an archaeological dig in Leicester, England claims to have found a skeleton that could be Richard. Tests on the body’s DNA are being carried out and we will know for definite in a few weeks time. So what does Astrology say about him? Luckily, we have a birth chart for the day he was born to look at…

Richard was a sign sign Libran, born 9.02am on 2nd October 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, England. Now because of the Julian Calendar in force at the time, I have had to adjust the date to the Gregorian Calendar we use today. This is because of the software I own. The time has also been adjusted slightly to get the correct ascendant degree. The information I use is from Astro-Databank.

Along with his Libran Sun, he had a possessive Taurean Moon and a Scorpio Ascendant. Interesting that both these two personal indicators were ruled by Venus, and this indicates somebody who had quite a fair amount of personal charm and I can imagine that he was somebody who was interested in people and relationships. Now the Sun conjunct to Saturn and the Ascendant in Scorpio would have cooled this friendly Libran Sun. Those with Sun Saturn conjunctions tend to put a brick wall up when it comes to showing affection and when one is in social occasions and the Scorpio ascendant is wary, secretive and obsessive. This I think was an introspective man and with Mercury following on rising behind the Sun, sitting in the 12th house in Scorpio too, he would not have said much and when he did, he would have questioned every action without giving anything away himself. There is a lot of ambition here with Sun and Saturn together and the Scorpio ascendant would have added to an obsession for power which lay deep below the surface out of the view of all who knew him. Furthermore, the Uranus Pluto conjunction in regal Leo shows he had an enormous drive for personal aggrandizement. The position of the Sun and Saturn in the 11th house showed that Richard was someone who shined when working with others and this position also showed a man with desperate need to be loved and adored.

The Sun Saturn conjunction Mercury in Scorpio and Neptune in Libra form a pointer including a double opposition to Mars in Aries in the 5th house, which was retrograde. There is no doubt that Richard was a brave man and a warrior. Mars in Aries is aggressive and in the 5th house loves sport and action, and the opposition to Saturn and the Sun showed a man who was a good military commander. Mercury and Saturn’s trine to Jupiter showed good breath of vision and organisational ability, being able to see all sides of a situation. Back to that pointer. Mars retrograde also showed repressed anger and a man who would look very cool on the outside but frustrated and burning with passion on the inside. That quindecile between Mars and Mercury I think showed heightened idealism and possibly a element of delusion and the other quindecile to Mars from Neptune shows smouldering levels of seduction to get people to do what he wanted them to do. For sure he had an ability to deceive yet keep the signs of his deceit well under wraps.

Women would have been very important to Richard, he wouldn’t have been able to exist on his own without a woman by his side. His 7th house Moon in Taurus is very possessive and very sensual as well as being very passionate and showing a jealous side as it is opposite to Venus in Scorpio. I am sure with Venus in the 1st house that he was a bit conscious of his appearance and the combination of Taurus Moon & Venus in the first house and a Libran Sun shows someone who would rather negotiate his way out of a disagreement rather than fight, however this was a changeable character who could probably turn on an instant to the dismay of those around him. With Uranus square to his Mercury, I am sure he had a sharp sense of humour which could be use to break any ice if he had to, but it could also switch his mood rather quickly making him react in a rather erratic nature.

This Moon Venus opposition is squared by Jupiter and despite the evil tags that I hear about Richard, this position showed someone who would have been generous to friends, would have loved socializing and having a good time and would have always given the benefit of the doubt to those close to him, even if they made faults or mistakes. Jupiter in the 3rd is in a position of learning, and he would have been very open to expanding his knowledge and reaching out to test new ideas and concepts. This was not a conservative man, quite the opposite; he would have been very interested in reform and making forward progress.

So to sum up, we do have a rather complex character. I think very cool yet charming, somebody who like a good time but could keep his cards very close to his chest. Maybe people close to him would think they knew what he was thinking, but they never would actually know. Maybe the evil tag has come from a very sly charm that I am sure he had, and people not entirely wanting to trust him, and they would be right. Under the skin, this was someone who definitely had an enormous ego drive and a thirst for power and I suspect he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

Out of all the quotes from Shakespeare’s Richard III which I looked at, this one seem strangely ironic and from the astrology have I looked at rings eerily true. Shakespeare wrote in Richard III “And thus I clothe my naked villany. With old odd ends stolen out of holy writ; And seem a saint, when most I play the devil”

Why is he in the news now? I think it has something to do with his outer planets. Transiting Pluto is now making a trine to his Midheaven, his public reputation point on his chart just as the dig for his body in Leicester is happening. Remember Pluto represents death and regeneration, secrets and things underground, where his body has been lying for over 500 years. Transiting Neptune is also making an opposition to his Midheaven from the nadir of his chart, lifting a cloud of uncertainty of where he was buried. I think that these two indicators will reveal that the body found under the car park is that of the long lost King.