Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow announce that they will split

It's been announced this evening that Gwyneth Paltrow is splitting from Chris Martin, the lead singer of the band Coldplay. The couple met in October 2002 and they married just over a year later. They have had two children, Apple and Moses and this news comes as Gwyneth’s natal chart has been coming under a lot of pressure from some difficult planetary transits.

I don't have Chris' full birth details, he was born on 2nd March 1977 in Exeter, England (no birth time) so it is a little difficult to work out what is actually happening on his chart, but I do have Gwyneth's. She was born in Los Angeles on 27th Sept 72 at 17.25 (Astro databank). This means that her natal Mercury ruling her 7th house of marriage (Virgo on the cusp) and the 4th house of endings and the family (Gemini on the cusp) at 11:25 degrees Libra is absolutely in the firing line of the Pluto, Uranus Jupiter t-square currently dominating the heavens. Uranus is opposing, and Jupiter and Pluto make squares. Previous to this, her Sun, Pluto and Mars in Virgo all in that 7th house would one after the other been under strain from an opposition from Pluto and a square from Uranus in the past few years. All these hits to one’s natal planets, especially sitting in the house of one’s marriage would have taken their toll on her.

Adding to this, transiting Saturn is at the moment making a square aspect to her natal Venus, the planet of relationships ruling the 8th of change (Libra on the cusp). Transiting Neptune, the planet of suffering and solitude is very close to her Pisces Ascendant and is square to her natal Neptune too, so her head must be in a spin right now and she will be feeling rather confused and disorientated - that's why she is pulling away to give herself some space. Transiting Chiron, the wounded healer has in the past few month been making a square to her natal Moon making her very unsettled affecting her moods and emotions quite a lot.

The couple has said that this is just a split and not a divorce, and quite frankly under all this planetary pressure, one can see why she has made the decision for now to go it alone...