Princess Kiko and the Imperial Heir
[I first posted this article on Blogger in early 2006, and found it again while organizing my files. I reworked it a bit for clarity, but the substance is the same. Enjoy this blast from the past!]
Princess Kiko was born into a middle-class Japanese family and married Prince Fumihito, who is second in line to inherit Japan’s Chrysanthemum Throne. The Imperial House of Japan is the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy, traditionally dating to February 11, 660 BC. Princess Kiko and Prince Fumihito met as undergraduates at university and married in their early twenties, a love match by all indications. At the time of this writing (early 2006), all eyes are on Princess Kiko, who is due to have a baby in September 2006. Neither Prince Fumihito nor his elder brother, Crown Prince Naruhito, have sons, so if Princess Kiko’s baby is a boy, Princess Kiko’s boy will be third in line to the throne, after his uncle and father.
Princess Kiko’s chart is quite fortunate; the fixed star Dirah (also known as Tejat Posterior), on the left foot of the Northern Twin, Castor, is right on the Ascendant. Dirah is of the nature of Mercury and Venus, and promises power and protection. Castor is the mortal of the two Twins (the Dioscuri), so Princess Kiko did not reach the very highest power, as she would have by marrying the Crown Prince, but still did very well nonetheless. In the 2nd house, exalted Jupiter on the cusp confers wealth. Jupiter rules the 10th house of status, so wealth will come from her position or occupation. Interestingly, the wealth of the spouse is not tremendous; the ruler of the 8th house is an angular but retrograde Saturn in Pisces. The fixed star Terebellum, of the nature of Venus and Saturn, sits on the 8th cusp, indicating fortune but with regret and disgrace. One of the strongest planets in Princess Kiko’s chart is her Mercury in Virgo, where it is both in its sign and exaltation, positioned on the fourth house cusp. Since Mercury is in its own sign, its conjunction to the Sun is not considered as harmful as usual. Finally, remember that Dirah on the Ascendant has Mercury as one of its associated planets; since Mercury is so strong in this chart, we expect Dirah to be particularly helpful to the Princess.
For royalty, children are more a part of their fortune than for the rest of us. Given the current succession crisis in the Japanese imperial family, and the unborn baby’s gender still unknown, we look at Princess Kiko’s 5th house of children. One of the royal stars, Spica, is conjunct the 5th cusp, promising a child who will be king. This is the only royal star in the Princess’s chart and is the more suggestive for it. Who knows? Perhaps Princess Kiko’s child will be a boy and ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne.
March 2017 update: Princess Kiko’s child, Prince Hisahito, is indeed a boy, and is the first boy born in the Imperial Japanese family since his father. He is the only grandson, and is indeed third in line to the throne to become Emperor of Japan. Note how his rising degree is on Spica and exactly conjoins his mother’s fifth house cusp.
