A Royal Wedding

One of the more popular implementations of electional astrology is through the selection of a wedding date. It is no surprise that this is at the top of the list as it is a day of social, cultural, personal, and often religious importance that the couple usually has nearly complete control over. It is understandable that people would want to start such an important journey with the right foot forward.

Even celebrities and royalty utilize electional astrology to help with these important dates, though their focus may be different from the rest of the general population. For many of us it is enough to have a strong bond between partners, but for royals specifically there may be political motivations in the background of the marriage that get more astrological attention than the well-being of the couple or the marriage itself.

The most significant royal wedding of recent memory is that of Prince Charles of Whales and Lady Diana Spencer. The wedding occurred on July 29th, 1981 at 11:20am in London the chart for which is below.

There is no official word on whether this chart was elected by a professional astrologer, but many placements in it seem a bit too perfect to have happened merely by chance and there are many placements that would look pleasing to an astrologer practicing around the time.

In wedding elections, the first house and its ruler represent the groom while the seventh house and its ruler represent the bride. Here, Charles is represented by Venus and Diana by Mars. Both of these planets are placed in fortunate houses but both planets are placed in their debilities. There is a nice bond between the two planets as Venus applies a sextile to Mars; fantastic symbolism of two people coming together. It is interesting that Mars is the more angular of the two planets, featured prominently on the Midheaven. Aside from the obvious increase in nobility as a direct result of the marriage, Diana would become beloved all over the world for her commitment to charitable organizations and causes, using the power her title gave her to initiate meaningful change. It is also amusing that a woman signified by a willful Mars would remove the vow to "obey" her husband from the traditional vows at the wedding, which many in the media made note of.

Jupiter and Saturn are both placed on the Ascendant of the figure with Saturn a bit further off. Saturn is not a difficult planet within this context as it neither rules a bad house nor is he ill-placed in Libra. This conjunction was likely placed here to bring some stability and permanence to the marriage that the utilization of Cardinal signs on the angles often denies.

The conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on the Ascendant also plays another important role. Both planets represent children with Saturn ruling the fifth house and Jupiter being a natural significator thereof. This union of masculine planets in masculine signs may have been a deliberate choice to encourage the arrival of male heirs, which is often a concern of royalty.

Rooting elections to the natal chart is a crucial process in any electional work. It is important to highlight the best parts of an individual's chart while also being careful to avoid emphasizing difficult planets. When it comes to marriages the traditional procedure is to root to the groom's chart. This is because the success and security of the marriage was often directly related to how well the man was able to provide for the family (and the fact that women have been considered little more than property historically). In the present day, marriage has become much more egalitarian and this method may not be appropriate for standard practice depending on the wishes of the couple.

There are, unfortunately,​ some placements that are accentuated that are less than positive. The most noteworthy being the collection of wedding planets within his natal twelfth house. This creates a focus on secrets and other hidden, unpleasant things. Doubly so with the sign Cancer being in the wedding's tenth house showing these unpleasant secrets coming to light. These sorts of events are already programmed into Charles's nativity with the Moon as Lady of the twelfth house in his tenth.

Another difficult, but understandable, choice is the conjunction of the natal Saturn with the wedding Venus (which serves as his significator). While Saturn is his natal seventh house ruler, this planet also rules the difficult sixth and eighth houses which may bring more stress than bliss with it.

The most difficult aspect of the wedding chart is the emphasis placed upon the Moon. The Moon rules the wedding's tenth house and represents the public part of the marriage or what transpires within it. This is the part that everyone sees and talks about.

While the Moon is not a difficult planet naturally, she rules bad houses for both individuals. She is Diana's eighth house lord and Charles's twelfth house lord and these were the parts that came to light during the marriage: Diana's anxieties and Charles's affair (not that Diana was innocent on that end, but it isn't what most people remember). Morbidly, it was her sudden death after the divorce that would be ingrained into the public's mind.

This is an unfortunately prominent example of something to avoid in an election. The Moon is often employed as a place-holder planet to signify an important area of the election due to her quick motion. It is not difficult to place her in a sign of strength on short notice. However, it's important to be aware of what specific areas the Moon signifies for the individuals as the rulers of difficult houses can turn fairytale weddings into horror stories.