Friday Bite 20 February 2026

Conduct Unbecoming

“As part of the investigation, we have today arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk.’  19 February, Thames Valley Police.

“I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office. What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities. In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation. Let me state clearly: the law must take its course. As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all. Charles R.” King Charles III, 19 February

“I’m the expert in a way because I’ve been totally exonerated [from complicity in the Epstein affair]. That’s very nice. I can actually speak about it very nicely. I think it’s a shame. I did nothing,” Donald Trump, 19 February.

THERE IS REALLY only one story, although the theme of accountability that underscores it has resonated with more than one unprecedented development in the past seven days. And accountability is one of the preeminent themes of the Saturn-Neptune conjunction, which takes place today. Another enduring theme of this conjunction is: the end of regimes.

At eight in the morning of 19 February, a posse of police vehicles entered the gates of the Sandringham estate. It was headed for Wood Farm, the temporary residence of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The officers had come to arrest the former prince on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

Not since 1647 and the handover of Charles I into the custody of the English Parliament has a member of the British royal family been arrested. And we should note that the unfortunate King was beheaded in 1649. Later on Thursday, Andrew was released from custody and returned to Sandringham, uncharged but under investigation. And it may take months before any formal charges can be made, if indeed they ever will.

Before we look at the astrology presiding over these historic events, also on Thursday the former president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, was sentenced to life-imprisonment for mounting an insurrection against the government in December 2024.

Accountability. The stuff of the Saturn-Neptune conjunction.

Also before we get into all the ramifications of the events of the past twenty-four hours, mention should be made of the acute disparity between people in high places in Europe and the UK tumbling off their plinths while those of similar ilk in the United States remain standing, not least the current occupant of the White House whose name is mentioned thousands of times in the Epstein material – over a million if some reports are to be believed. And when you think the solar eclipse of 17 February at 28 degrees of Aquarius fell squarely on the US Moon, that’s quite the anomaly. I’d say more heads will roll in the coming weeks and one or two of them will have been on American shoulders.

THE NINETEENTH OF February 2026 is almost certainly going to go down as the worst day in the life of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and clearly his worst birthday ever. However, it could also go down in history as the day everything changed for the monarchy. It was a Charles I moment.

The above chart is based on the time Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested. Twenty-nine degrees of Pisces is rising and twenty-nine degrees of Sagittarius is culminating. Thus, all four angles fall on the anaretic degree – a degree associated with crisis and karma. (It is also worth mentioning that Great Britain’s Moon is placed at 29 degrees of Pisces…) Additionally, twenty-nine degrees of Pisces is the location of the fixed star Scheat, which has a most unfortunate reputation and is associated with tidal waves and violent storms at sea – clearly in this case in the metaphorical sense. Saturn is rising alongside Neptune and squaring the MC-IC axis reinforcing the all too familiar theme of accountability.

If we read this chart as a quasi-horary, giving great weight to the Moon and its aspects, that it will conjoin the Ascendant and sextile Uranus before it leaves the sign of Pisces, means it is not void-of-course and therefore something will “come of the matter”. (It is not going to end with Andrew’s exoneration.) Since the last aspect the Moon will make is with unpredictable Uranus, the matter will have unexpected if not untold consequences.

That the arrest of a member of the royal family occurred on the Saturn-Neptune conjunction is not insignificant, and yet another of its themes – shattered illusions – is redolent in this event. Andrew is not alone in having the veil stripped from his eyes; it is also emblematic of the mystique of monarchy disappearing into the mist to reveal the all too human aspects of its reality.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was born on 19 February sixty-six years ago. Proud (and entitled) Leo rises with iconoclastic and wayward Uranus conjunct the Ascendant. I must add that Leo has many wonderful qualities too – warmth, vibrancy, courage and strength – so not every Leo-rising person is a malignant narcissist. Just Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Donald Trump maybe. His Sun at zero degrees, zero minutes of Pisces is placed in the Pluto-ruled eighth house along with Mercury, and his Moon is to be found in the Pluto-ruled sign of Scorpio. Not everyone with such astrological components is drawn to the night, but the pull of the mysterious, the magical and the forbidden will be there. Andrew, for instance, might have channelled his interests and talents into becoming a therapist, a deep-sea diver, a crime writer or criminologist. As it is, his level of consciousness has drawn him into a world in which depravities and corruption thrive, a world in which the light is lost.

Likewise, his stellium in Capricorn – Mars, Venus and Saturn – might have manifested as leadership ability and a great work-ethic. As it is, the love of money and position has eclipsed such noble qualities. He has become the worst of men, not the best.

Transiting Uranus has been hovering over his Moon for the past year, a year in which brother Charles has been trying to remove him from Royal Lodge. The King achieved his ends a matter of weeks ago and Andrew must have had barely enough time to unpack the video games before the knock on the door came. The Moon rules his twelfth house – the house of one’s undoing, the house of incarceration – so Uranus has a role to play in potentially relocating him to lodgings at His Majesty’s pleasure.

Taking the astrology into consideration and the evidence that we have of Andrew’s duplicity and dishonour, it is highly unlikely that he will fall on his sword, admit his guilt and take the wrap. Despite the evidence in emails revealing his betrayal of trade secrets and privileged information to Epstein and the mounting evidence of his part in the financier’s sex-trafficking ring, he is going to continue to believe that he has done nothing wrong. He’s going to hold out hope that the power and influence of the King, his brother, will protect him from the worst that could happen. What Andrew almost certainly cannot see is that it is he, through his narcissism, entitlement and greed, who has brought about the biggest crisis for the monarchy since February 1649 and the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Commonwealth of England.

Speaking of which.

I just had to look at the astrology of that terrible time. And what did I find, but on the day Charles I was executed, Saturn and Neptune were in opposition, (as they were at the abdication of Edward VIII) thus resonating with the same themes that we are experiencing today – atonement and end-of-regimes – only the astrology was marginally worse since Neptune was conjunct Uranus and Saturn conjunct Pluto. And all four planets were squared by Mars. Plus, days after the establishment of the Commonwealth there was a solar eclipse.

I should add that Saturn and Neptune were not in close opposition at the time Charles I was arrested in 1647: the exact aspect occurred some months later. However, in keeping with more recent Saturn-Neptune combos, I have noticed that whatever the presenting event – the collapse of the Berlin Wall for instance – it takes a couple of years before the full effects of that event can be appreciated.

So, here we are, some 379 years later witnessing the arrest of a member of the royal family, an event which could change the shape of the monarchy as we know it. In my last Friday Bite, which you can find if you scroll down, I suggested that at the very least, greater transparency is necessary for the monarchy to survive, but what it may really take is for Charles to step back and William to become king. And maybe it will take the best part of two years for such a scenario to unfold.

One thing is for certain, this is just the beginning.

Friday Bite 13 February 2026

Fall-out

“One reason the Epstein files have created such a stir is that they have revealed the elaborate social and financial ties among so many people in positions of power. It’s not that most or even many of the big names who appear were paedophiles and sexual predators but rather that their dealings with him demonstrate that there’s a wealthy, powerful, globe-trotting club, and the rest of us ain’t in it.” David A Graham, The Atlantic 11 Feb

“This [Epstein affair] goes over four administrations. You don’t have to go back to Biden. Let’s go back to Obama. Let’s go back to George Bush. This cover-up spans decades, and you [Trump administration] are responsible for this portion,” Thomas Massie to Pam Bondi, 11 February.

“You don’t tell me anything.” Pam Bondi to Jamie Raskin, 11 February.

RATHER THAN PETERING out, the fallout from the Epstein files is gathering force, its spectral tentacles reaching into the corridors of power and extending across all continents. Last weekend, Sir Keir Starmer’s position looked untenable after he admitted that he had appointed Peter Mandelson as US ambassador in spite of warnings about the extent of his association with Jeffrey Epstein. However, by Monday, the cabinet had rallied around him, and Sir Keir lived to fight another day.

Across Europe, ministers have stepped down and monarchies have trembled while in the United States it seems accountability is simply a word you have to look up in the dictionary. Even Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce and architect of Trump’s global tariff policy, remains in place and with the blessing of the White House, despite calls for his resignation when it became clear he had been telling large porky pies about cutting off all ties with Jeffrey Epstein in 2005 yet he and his family (and two nannies) were guests on the island in 2012.

What is truly mind-boggling is that thus far merely two percent of the total cache of emails, documents, photos and videos related to Epstein have been released.

On Wednesday, during a House judiciary committee hearing, Pam Bondi, Attorney General, traded insults with lawmakers while defending the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files. She had come prepared with a handful of flashcards displaying individualized invectives to fire off as and when needed. The five-hour exchange was indeed incendiary and left no one in any doubt that the days of deference to Congress from the Trump administration are well and truly over.

The above chart is based on a 6:00 pm time of birth. I have no idea where this time came from (it was in my data bank) since most sources claim no knowledge of a birth time. So, treat it with a pinch of salt, although I have to say, it looks remarkably accurate to me.

A Scorpio with her Sun conjunct nebulous Neptune resonates with a woman who will never give up and never give in, although she is easily misled and equally capable of misleading others. Currently, Neptune and Saturn are opposing her Jupiter (ruler of the seventh house of relationships and placed in the second house of values) which speaks volumes about an inflated sense of her own importance and inviolability. Not only this, but Saturn and Neptune are already squaring her natal Mars creating a climate in which missteps are easily made. And, should this time of birth be correct, such supreme self-confidence is unwarranted. Uranus will reach her Ascendant in late May/early June and with a new moon opposing her Sun (16 May) and a full moon squaring her Saturn (31 May) she could be looking for a new role by early summer. And even if two degrees of Gemini isn’t rising, her natal north node is four degrees of Gemini and conjunct the Ascendant-descendant axis, which also speaks of a sudden and unexpected upset.

SINCE MY LAST Friday Bite, yet more evidence of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s epic betrayals, has emerged. This time in emails to Epstein during his time as Trade Envoy. (And they may well prove to be just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.) Shouts of “Andrew for prosecution” and “how long have you been protecting Andrew…?” rang out loud and clear as King Charles mingled with the crowds during a visit to Clitheroe in Lancashire earlier in the week. Clearly, the King took the comments to heart and later that evening issued a statement that the royal family “stands ready” to support the police in its enquiry into Andrew’s links to the disgraced financier. But however vocal the British public may be about the cover-up going on in royal circles, some of the questions being raised on podcasts about the future of the monarchy are far more serious.

Andrew Lownie, author of Entitled, the Rise and Fall of the House of York, is one such voice, this week responding to comments that the scandal could bring down the monarchy and suggesting, “the easiest thing would be for the King to abdicate.”.

Lownie’s forensic research into the Duke and Duchess of York’s affairs revealed the astonishing lengths and depths to which the couple had resorted in pursuit of financial gain. According to Mr Lownie, tranches of evidence of treachery and corruption were left out of the book at the request of the publishers because it was deemed the content was too controversial to be believed. Since the release of the Epstein files, not only has the author been vindicated but some of the missing material will be published later this year in the paperback of Entitled. Another book, potentially even more damaging to the royal family since financial corruption does not begin and end with Andrew, is in preparation.

Other voices have compared the crisis enveloping the royal family to be greater than that of the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936. Which is very interesting from an astrological perspective.

Let us first bear in mind that we are within seven days of the Saturn-Neptune conjunction, which has a reputation for presiding over the end of regimes and the downfall of leaders. As you may remember from previous Friday Bites, Jeffrey Epstein was born at the time of the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in 1953, as was Peter Mandelson. And, of course, Queen Elizabeth came to the throne on that same Saturn-Neptune conjunction, plus she was born on a Saturn-Neptune square. A major configuration present at birth is triggered when the formation repeats itself in the same way that a tuning fork struck at a particular tone will resonate with everything else at that pitch.

The current royal family was born on the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Leo in 1917. King George V was keen to distance the royal family from its German origins and so christened it the House of Mountbatten-Windsor.

I want to draw your attention to the Saturn-Neptune conjunction at two-four degrees of Leo because it is currently being opposed by transiting Pluto. Thus, not only is the turmoil into which the royal family has been plunged depicted by this transit, but the stage is set for a major transformation of the Mountbatten-Windsors, whether that manifests in a new kind of transparency for the royal family, which is badly needed, or the ultimate sacrifice of King Charles, which by abdicating will allow a shiny new page for the monarchy to be turned.

Not only is Pluto opposing the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in the Windsor chart but Neptune and Saturn are conjunct the Windsor’s Chiron and squaring the family’s natal Moon at 29 degrees of Gemini.  And the synchronicities don’t end there. King Charles Ascendant is five degrees of Leo and therefore conjunct the Windsor Saturn-Neptune conjunction which in turn is being opposed by transiting Pluto – could he be the sacrificial lamb? – while his natal Jupiter Uranus opposition (29 degrees Sagittarius-Gemini) is conjunct the Windsor Moon and being squared by the current Saturn-Neptune conjunction.

If this isn’t the portrait of a major crisis, I don’t know what is.

At the time of the abdication of Edward VIII, Charles’s Great Uncle, with whom he had a curious fascination, Saturn and Neptune were not conjoined but they were in opposition. Nonetheless, the Saturn-Neptune theme, which is a constant as far as the House of Windsor is concerned, was present at one of the most critical points of its history. The abdication itself occurred two days before a solar eclipse in Sagittarius and while Uranus (5 degrees of Taurus) was squaring the Windsor Saturn-Neptune conjunction.

So, do I think abdication is likely. I think it’s plausible and I certainly believe it is under discussion.

I have in the past covered the likelihood of Charles abdicating and given a timeline of September 2025 through August 2026 for such an eventuality. Last September there was a solar eclipse at 29 degrees of Virgo (squaring Charles’s Jupiter-Uranus opposition and the Windsor Moon) and there will be another eclipse at five degrees of Pisces on 28 August this year – the Sun will be conjunct Charles’s natal Saturn and the eclipse will be squaring the Windsor Jupiter. And at this point in time, we are approaching a solar eclipse (17 February) and a lunar eclipse (3 March), which may also prove to be markers for significant developments in the House of Windsor.

There is not only a theme of end-of-regimes to the Saturn-Neptune conjunction but one of atonement. Karma comes around and accountability is called for. And the royal family is no exception. Thus far, William and Kate and Charles and Camilla have emphasized their thoughts are with the victims, but that really isn’t enough to stem the tide of concern over what is beginning to look like a massive cover-up by the royal family in general and King Charles in particular. The King may even have some difficult questions to answer about his own questionable behaviour in regard to the €3 million in cash from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar, which was delivered to him in a suitcase, a holdall and some bags from Fortnum and Mason.

To be continued.