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 Untitled, 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 2017. 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.

Friday Bite 6 February 2026

Groundhog Day

“There is a special place in hell for those who took part, for those who kept quiet and for those who tried to conceal it [Epstein sex-trafficking/paedophilia ring].” Prime Minister Donald Trusk, 5 February.

“I really don’t have the words to describe, my love, gratitude for your generosity and kindness…I am at your service. Just marry me.” Sarah York in an email to Jeffrey Epstein, January 2010

SHORTLY AFTER I posted last week’s Bite, the US Justice Department released 3.5 million pages of the “Epstein Files”. These included 2,000 videos, and hundreds of thousands of emails and images. One week later, as their contents are slowly revealed, the shockwaves continue to gather momentum.

 If we thought we had seen everything there was to see about Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s disgraceful behaviour, even worse was to come, not least an FBI presentation (2025) in which he was named as a participant in group sex on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane. Wife Sarah found herself embedded even more deeply in the manure through her effulgent emails to the financier in 2010, which belied her protestations of last September that the only reason she maintained a cordial relationship with Epstein was her fear that he would carry out his threat to destroy the York family. In reality, she not only clearly adored him but was indebted to him for the financial support he gave her, arguably to the tune of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Earlier this week, her charity, Sarah’s Trust, was closed “for the foreseeable future” and on Monday, the removal vans were parked outside Royal Lodge, the former prince having slipped into the night some time over the weekend.

In this last tranche of files, we discovered that Britain’s royal family wasn’t the only one caught in Epstein’s web. Norway’s Crown Princess Mette Marie exchanged many emails with the financier over the years and had stayed at his Palm Beach home. She also reportedly received $20,000 from him… Princess Sofia of Sweden did not escape exposure in the recent despatch either: emails revealing that she had met with Epstein on several occasions before her marriage to Prince Carl Philip.

While the Swedish Crown may be in no danger of toppling due to Princess Sofia’s association with Epstein, the Royal House of Glücksburg is in deep trouble. Not only does Mette Marie’s link to a global sex-trafficking scandal tarnish the image of the Norwegian monarchy, but this week the trial opened of her son of a previous marriage, Marius Borg Holby, who is charged with rape, repeated abuse, threats and drug abuse.

Bad timing is an understatement.

The House of Glücksburg came into being in 1905 when Norway and Sweden dissolved their union. That same year, Haakon Mangus VII became the first king of independent Norway. Thus, both Norway and the royal house share a similar astrological destiny.

Do we need to look much further than Uranus’s current position on the Midheaven of Norway’s chart for an explanation as to why the monarchy is wobbling on its axis and questions are being raised over Mette Marie’s future as Queen of Norway. The Crown Princess has already lost at least one of her patronages, and the media is warning that public trust in the monarchy is waning.

Not only is Uranus on the Midheaven but conjoined to Mercury, the ruler of Norway’s chart, and on 17 February there will be a solar eclipse at 28 degrees of Aquarius, close to the nation’s natal Saturn and squaring the Midheaven and transiting Uranus. And if that wasn’t enough, Pluto is squaring Norway’s natal Venus (ruler of the Midheaven) and fast approaching, by opposition, Norway’s natal Moon at 6 degrees Leo.

Clearly, I don’t expect the monarchy to fall in the next couple of weeks, but I do think the royal family is going to have to make some difficult decisions in order to preserve its position. In the same way that Queen Elizabeth was forced to take extreme measures to preserve the British Crown in the aftermath of her Annus Horribilis (1992) Norway’s monarchy must perform radical changes to regain the trust and respect of its people.

The Midheaven of a nation’s chart points to the leadership of the country, whether in the sense of a monarchy and/or the government, so Norway as an entity is experiencing turbulence. In recent weeks, not only has prime minister Jonas Gahr Store had to deal with a truculent President Trump complaining about his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize and threatening all manner of unpleasantness in consequence, but growing concerns over the safety and sovereignty of the Arctic region is reanimating the argument as to whether Norway should become a member of the European Union. Finland and Sweden joined the EU in the past eighteen months, and, given the aforementioned Pluto and Uranus transits, such an eventuality for Norway is far from out of the question.

While the list of famous names entangled in Epstein’s evil empire, or at least mentioned en passent, grows by the day resulting in condemnation and ignominy and loss of position and power, the one name that has appeared 38,000 times in the documents has garnered little attention and suffered no consequences whatsoever. Trump, Melania Trump and the Mar-a-Lago Club are indeed mentioned 38,000 times, but, as The Guardian newspaper pointed out, “the constitutional lines of accountability to control a president seem to have long gone, while the public seem inured to Trump’s moral flaws.”

The British establishment, on the other hand, are not inured to the “moral flaws” or the criminal actions of Epstein whisperer, Peter Mandelson, formerly known as “The Prince of Darkness”.

Mandelson’s fall from grace in the past seven days has been meteoric, although it is not the first time he has had to resign from office. In 1998 he resigned for receiving a loan of £373,000 from a ministerial colleague, which he failed to declare, and in 2001 he resigned over allegations of misconduct related to a passport application. In September last year, he was sacked from his role as ambassador to the United States over his association with Epstein. However, the release last Friday of further emails and photographs from the Epstein files has eclipsed all that went before, not least the evidence that he had given market-sensitive information to Epstein when he was Business Secretary. By Monday, Mandelson had resigned from the Labour party and taken leave of absence from the House of Lords. And by Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police had launched a criminal investigation into allegations of misconduct in public office.

Always a controversial figure, loved and hated in equal measure, there is almost certainly no comeback from these revelations. He may even spend time in prison. Sadly, or not so sadly given your opinion of the prime minister, it is not just Mandelson’s future that is on the line but Sir Keir Starmer’s political survival. The prime minister’s time in office is rapidly reaching an end.

Unfortunately, we do not have a time of birth for Peter Mandelson and must make do with a sunrise chart, but there are some features which are not dependent on an accurate horoscope that are worthy of note. Mandelson was born during the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Libra, so the repetition of this conjunction at this point of time is of no mean significance.  As I have mentioned before, while Saturn and Neptune have been in transit in Pisces, there have been many celebrities and leaders who have fallen from grace and been made to atone for their sins, and this theme is also redolent in the Saturn-Neptune conjunction. What is also fascinating is that Jeffrey Epstein was born on the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Libra too.

Other points of relevance are the inconjuncts to Mandelson’s Sun-Neptune-Saturn conjunction from transiting Uranus, on the one hand, and the Saturn-Neptune conjunction on the other. In this Yod configuration, we have a perfect rendition of the suddenness and unexpectedness of the events that have led to his downfall. That transiting Pluto is nowhere to be seen in terms of connections to his natal planets is noticeable and suggests that the angles of the chart may be on or near three degrees of the fixed signs (Taurus, Scorpio, Aquarius and Leo).

As the Saturn-Neptune conjunction draws ever closer to exactitude, we are acquiring more and more understanding of its meaning in terms of global developments and our personal lives. Out there, we may see chaos and confusion and we may worry about what will replace the boundaries that once kept us safe and secure, but we are also witnessing the process of accountability. Maybe at this point in time, merely a handful of elites are being forced to face their “crimes”, but this is just the beginning. And some of those who believe they have removed every shred of evidence that could link them to Epstein’s ring of evil, may discover that they have not…

And yes, it was Groundhog Day on Monday.