Lola Montez. She realised that her path in life was that of Cinderella.
One should not attribute fatal qualities to all women, but some of them clearly possessed a magnetic power that allowed them to influence even the powerful of this world.
It would seem that any beauty is available to kings and princes, and this was often the case: the Sun King kept a “deer reserve” at the Palace of Versailles, biblical kings bathed in carnal pleasures provided by a huge number of concubines. However, there were cases when the ruler of the state met that one and only enchantress, for whom the crown was cast aside…
A woman who opened the “gates of paradise”
Eliza Rosanna Gilbert is remembered in history as Lola Montez. Eliza was born in Ireland on February 17, 1818, lost her father early, and married Thomas James, an officer in the British Army, at a young age. Lola did not become a guardian of the family hearth – she was not attracted to it. She desperately wanted a miracle, a holiday, fireworks, glitter, transformations, love, worship… She dreamed that the stage could give her all this. She was graceful, spectacular, light, and plastic – why not? Lola rehearsed persistently, and after returning from India in 1843, she performed on the stage of the opera house – as a dancer of Spanish dances.
Fate did not reward her with talent in this regard, but her helpless dance numbers were redeemed by her graceful female figure, slender legs, and magnificent bust. One of the princes of Thuringia fell for this “bait”, inviting Lola to his home. The “visits” did not last long, but the very fact! And then she realised that her path in life was that of Cinderella.
Any astrologer would assume that Cinderella must have a well-aspected Chiron in her horoscope – a planet that brings “miracles in a sieve”. But there was no good aspect of Chiron in Lola’s cosmogram. Perhaps if she had been strong in astrology and knew this, she would not have taken the risk. But the seduction machine had already been launched – Lola, like a comet, was rushing into the world of the crowned. After “practicing” with the Russian Prince Paskevich and the king of music Ferenc Liszt, she directed her charms at the king of the Parisian press, Dujarier. Paris could not believe its ears: Dujarier, spoiled by women, got married! It was the spring of 1846 when the incomparable Lola was to become a legal wife for the second time. But the unforeseen happened: Dujarier, who had turned into a furious and jealous man, challenged one of Lola’s persistent admirers to a duel and was killed.
It seemed that the bloody denouement buried Lola’s rosy hopes. She felt like an inconsolable widow. And suddenly her ex-husband spoke up, having learned about what had happened from the press. Lola was comforted by familiar embraces, and the reunited couple, in order not to cause outrage in the public, hastily left Paris and went to Germany.
The Munich Theatre was also not bad. Soon Lola managed to attract the attention of the King of Bavaria – Ludwig I. And the king’s attention is worth a lot. In February 1847, the Minister of Foreign Affairs received an instruction signed by the king to prepare a decree of citizenship for Lola Montez, as well as to add the title of Countess to her name. Of course, Ludwig had a wife and nine children, but his passion for Lola was also a reality.
In contrast to his father, Ludwig I was hostile to Napoleon I, but, nevertheless, in 1806-1809 he commanded the Bavarian Division in the wars against Prussia and Austria. After the end of the war with France, he lived mainly in Würzburg and Aschaffenburg, often traveling to Italy. He surrounded himself with writers and artists, advocating for them in their activities. In private life, the king was surprisingly thrifty, but spent huge sums of money on collections of works of art, supporting theaters, etc.
Political views at that time were distinguished by some liberalism. He sought most to turn Munich into “the second Athens”. He built various buildings – in the Greek, then in the Italian style. Especially famous is the “Walhalla” built by him with busts of all the famous people of Germany, with the exception of Luther and the figures of the Reformation (Ludwig himself was a
Born under the sign of Virgo (August 25, 1786), Ludwig I was known for his distrustful nature. At the time of his birth, the Moon and Sun were in Virgo, and the conjunction of these celestial bodies indicates peculiarities in his character. One of his eccentricities was his love for the “Spanish dancer.” It must be acknowledged that Lola had something captivating about her: on the one hand, absolute unpredictability and freedom (the analytically pragmatic Ludwig could never understand her), and on the other hand, a strong maternal instinct. The Moon in Cancer points to his vulnerability, fragility, and sensitivity.
If we combine the horoscopes of the lovers, Ludwig’s South Node conjuncts Lola’s Moon—in Indian astrology, this is a clear indication of a connection in a past life. Moreover, not just any connection—in one of her incarnations, Lola was Ludwig’s mother! This connection likely explained Lola’s powerful influence on the King of Bavaria. She managed, as they say, to “defeat Loyola,” that is, to overthrow the clerical ministry of Abel, and then the moderate ministry of Maurer. In its place, the so-called “Lola Ministry” was organized. She established connections with the business world and drafted state papers signed “maîtresse du roi”—the king’s courtesan. Naturally, the reaction could not be positive. The general hatred for Ludwig was expressed by Heine (in “Zeitgedichte”), who subjected Ludwig’s patronage, his poetry, and the influence of his mistress to harsh ridicule.
“Cherchez la femme—look for the woman,” as the French say. Lola was the beginning, and the end was the demand for freedom and a change in the electoral system. Weeping, Ludwig thought it wiser to say goodbye to the woman who had opened the “gates of paradise” for him. Seated in a royal carriage, guarded by guards, Lola left Munich. But this did not ease the situation in the country: the Bavarians demanded the removal of the monarch, and Ludwig abdicated the crown…
Lola, overwhelmed by this turn of events, sailed to America. She married three more times and died of pneumonia at the age of 42, and was buried in a New York cemetery under her maiden name—Eliza Gilbert.
Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII, King of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India for 10 months, but never crowned. Their love is attributed with touching romanticism and self-sacrifice.
The Heart Wants What It Wants
Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII, King of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India for 10 months, but never crowned. Their love is attributed with touching romanticism and self-sacrifice.
Wallis was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on June 19, 1896. Her father was a successful businessman. At the age of twenty, she married naval aviator Winfield Spencer. The brave aviator turned out to be an alcoholic with sadistic tendencies, which forced Wallis to leave him. Later, in China, they tried to live together again, but he started drinking again, and the couple broke up for good.
Wallis then married divorced businessman Ernest Simpson and moved to London. There, the couple became friends with Thelma Furness, the mistress of the Prince of Wales, Edward. On January 10, 1931, Thelma invited the Simpsons to her country house in Melton Mowbray, where they met the heir to the throne—respectfully and nobly. And in 1934, a romance began between Wallis Simpson and the Prince of Wales.
Events unfolded interestingly: on January 20, 1936, King George V died, and the Prince of Wales became Edward VIII. Shortly before this, information about the Prince of Wales’s relationship with Wallis Simpson appeared in the foreign press. The government instructed the British press not to cover their relationship. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin recommended that the King consider the constitutional problems that might arise if he married a divorced woman. Edward VIII received political support from Winston Churchill and Lord Beaverbrook, but he was well aware that his decision to marry Wallis Simpson would be unpopular in British society. The Archbishop of Canterbury was also strongly opposed to this relationship. The government also considered that Wallis Simpson had relationships with other men, including married car dealer Guy Trundle and Edward FitzGerald, Duke of Leinster. Moreover, the FBI believed that Simpson had a relationship with Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German ambassador to Britain, and that she was passing secret information obtained from King Edward VIII to Nazi Germany
One way or another, on December 10, 1936, King Edward VIII signed the abdication. The next day, he made a radio address to the nation, where he said that he had abdicated because he found it impossible to fulfill the duties of a king without the help and support of the woman he loved.
The news of the abdication became a global sensation. According to Time magazine, Wallis Simpson became “Person of the Year.” The new king, Edward’s younger brother, George VI, granted him the title of Duke of Windsor. However, under pressure from the British government, the addition of the prefix “Royal Highness” to the title of the newly minted Duchess was denied. However, the ducal couple was denied many things, even family picnics and meetings.
The loss of the crown was not relevant to Edward: if you look at the king’s cosmogram, ruling was a burden to him.
Edward was born on June 23, 1894, in Richmond (England). Sun in Cancer, Moon in Pisces – soft-bodied, loving and forgiving. Mars is in the first degree of Aries – the degree of the “scapegoat.” The South Node, Chiron, and Saturn in Libra indicate paradoxes, the problem of marriage, and law.
If we combine the cosmograms of Edward and Wallis, we can see that the Duchess’s Moon in Libra is conjunct the Saturn of the crowned husband – this suggests that Edward emotionally suppressed her. But the pressure was within reason, because the conjunction in the synastry of the cosmograms has only a positive aspect to the Duchess’s Mercury and Neptune – the planet of temptations. Wallis’s Mercury is retrograde, which means that her thinking is slightly slowed down, and it seems that although she was quite a good manipulator, she followed the lead of her husband’s ideas.
By the way, there is not a single tense aspect in the synastry, despite the suspicion that Wallis had an intimate relationship with Ribbentrop. The Duchess’s Mercury is retrograde and has a conjunction with Pluto and Neptune, the characteristics of the degrees do not speak in favor of the Duchess’s chastity: Mercury — the 17th degree of Gemini — weak will, erases the trace, the degree of mentally ill people, neurotics, and perverts. Pluto is in the 13th destructive degree of Gemini – deception, intrigue, lies, and an unfavorable environment. Neptune in the 19th of Gemini — weakness, lack of character, loneliness in old age. Wallis’s Sun is in the 29th degree of Gemini – eternal dissatisfaction. Jupiter (the planet that brought her to Olympus) — is also in the destructive 10th degree of Leo — gives the owner of this degree pride, pessimism, and depravity. Mars in the 22nd degree of Aries foretells misfortune from the opposite sex.
After the Second World War, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor lived in France. There were reports that she continued promiscuous affairs, and she had affairs with Jimmy Donahue, the grandson of a multi-millionaire, and the owner of Woolworth’s stores.
It is worth remembering that Wallis’s husband’s Mars is in the degree of “scapegoat,” and Edward’s father, King George V, scolded his son for his relationship with married women when he was not yet married to Wallis. The Duke’s Sun is in the third degree of Cancer – the degree of Don Juan, which also indicates misfortune from women. Jupiter in direct conjunction with his wife’s Neptune in the 19th degree of Gemini – lack of character. It would be strange not to notice that Pluto – the planet of masses and disasters, stands in the Duke in the 11th degree of Gemini – the degree of exile. There are also two degrees of violent death (the 6th and 9th degrees of Libra, and the 19th indicates violent isolation). However, the 12th degree of Scorpio, in which retrograde Uranus stands, indicates that fate keeps him safe, although the owner of the degree suffers all the filth. What filth are we talking about? Maybe it’s just gossip. Wallis has the 13th — the royal degree, in which retrograde Saturn and retrograde Chiron are located — the degree states that a person is lucky in the most difficult circumstances. The owner of the degree is not blamed for the deed, but someone else. So the Duchess always came out “dry from the water.” The famous date of the marriage of the Duke of Windsor with the “beautiful American” is June 3, 1937, near Turin (France). On the day of the wedding, the transiting Moon was in Pisces. This is the most successful position of
In 1956, Wallis Simpson published her autobiography titled “The Heart Has Its Reasons.” After the Duke of Windsor’s death on May 28, 1972, in Paris, Wallis remained in France. She died on April 24, 1986, and was buried next to Edward VIII in the Royal Burial Ground at Windsor.
Valentine Vittrock
