Princess Diana and Prince Charles Were "Incompatible"

the prince and princess of wales attend a welcome ceremony in toronto at the beginning of their canadian tour, october 1991 photo by jayne fincherprincess diana archivegetty images

(Image credit: Princess Diana Archive)

published 9 August 2021

Like so many of us, Princess Diana turned to astrology when her life became confusing. She regularly consulted astrologer Debbie Frank in an attempt to make sense of what was happening between her and Prince Charles. "She was going through a very difficult time in her marriage because her husband was having an affair with Camilla and nobody really knew about it and she felt desperate," Frank says, according to Town & Country. "She felt kind of locked into something that was not what it looked like. She was a young girl who just needed guidance and help managing her feelings, more than anything. I think she felt herself to be very disempowered at that time because it was just expected that she should just get on with it."

Frank explained that the Prince of Wales and his ex-wife "were really very different" and that their astrological charts put them at a disadvantage when it came to finding harmony as a couple. They were both Cancer star signs, as is Camilla Parker-Bowles, but it's their moon signs that made things complicated. Referring to Charles' moon in Taurus, Frank says, "This is very stubborn. It’s very fixed. It’s very unchanging. Whereas Diana had a moon in Aquarius, which is very people-oriented–someone who wants to move with the times. They were really very different."

Astrology ultimately couldn't save the royal marriage, but it was a comfort to Diana nonetheless. "She understood astrology, and it meant something to her," Frank says. "So, we were very easily able to use this as a language. You can translate what the meaning is, what the resonance of [something] is. She really understood that. She did want to know what was going on in the stars, what the general celestial frequency was."

As for Prince William—a Cancer—and Kate Middleton—a Capricorn, Frank's outlook is a little more positive: "But the opposites attract," she says. “There’s definitely this big magnetic connection between Kate and William." Phew.

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.