Debbie Yeung

On February 20, 2014, the Sunday Express in the UK ran an article titled “Could this be the next Queen of Scotland? As independence looms, will Stuart crown return?” Inset, it contained a picture of the Duchess of Alba, an 87-year old (on the date of printing) billionaire from Spain.

Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba may not be very well known in the English speaking world, but she is one of Spain’s most famous and richest people and in some regard, is even more “royal” than the current monarchy of Spain. According to Guinness World Records, she has more titles (over 40) recognized by an existing government than any other noble in the world.

The Duchess has lived a very colorful and unconventional life. Being the only child, she assumed the role of the head of the House of Alba from her father, the 17th Duke of Alba upon his death. Her mother died when she was seven years old but because his father did not remarry, the Duchess had no siblings and she inherited the title of Duchess in her own right, not through marriage. She was the apple of her father’s eye, and despite the social preference for a male heir in traditional Spain especially in the nobility rank, her father never indicated any disappointment or discontent that she was female and certainly made no attempt to have other relationships to produce a male heir.

The Duchess was a stunning beauty in her younger days. Her first marriage took place in 1947, and she married Don Luis Martínez de Irujo y Artázcoz (1919–1972), son of the Duke of Sotomayor. The wedding was considered the last great feudal wedding in Spain and attracted the attention of the international media. The New York Times called it "the most expensive wedding of the world."  Rumor has it that 20 million pesetas were spent at that time.

After becoming a widow, the Duchess remarried in1978 to Jesús Aguirre y Ortiz de Zárate (1934–2001), a Doctor of Theology and a former Jesuit priest. The wedding caused shock; Aguirre was illegitimate, which was scandalous in 1970s Spain. Aguirre died in 2001.

In October 2011, the Duchess married for the third time Alfonso Díez Carabantes, a civil servant who also runs a public relations business, 24 years her junior. It was reported that there were objections from her children and from King Juan Carlos [who has since abdicated in favor of his son and the new King Felipe VI was crowned on June 19, 2014]. The Duchess decided to proceed with the marriage, overcoming her children's opposition by giving them their inheritance in advance.

What I found intriguing about her life was her courageous decision to get married at the age of 85 despite objections from family and even the King of Spain. What was she thinking at the time and from an astrological perspective, what was the star distribution that motivated her behavior?

The Duchess is currently in a decade for ages 82 to 91, from 2008 to 2017. According to Wikipedia, details about her intention to marry Alfonso Díez Carabantes emeged in 2008, which coincided with the start of the current decade. There are two stars that give people the motivation to get married, settle down and have children: Sky Happiness and Red Matchmaker. They are always located directly opposite to each other. During this decade, Sky Happiness is in the Fortune house which impacts her mental state. For the year 2011, Red Matchmaker resided in the Marriage house of the calendar year as well as her “age”, which happened to overlap in the same house. The good fortune force of the calendar year as well as the “age” both entered the Marriage house. I should point out that the good fortune force of the decade shines on her Marriage house of the Decade Chart as well as the Life Chart. The Duchess was head over heels in love, not necessarily with Alfonso Díez Carabantes (who happened to be her object of affection), but she was just full of love. The time was ripe to have a committed relationship.

In May 2014, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that the Duchess has been having health issues but luckily, she has Alfonso Díez by her side. She needs to see him continuously. So long as she sees him, she feels calm. The destruction force of the calendar year for 2014 is directly hitting the Health house of her Life Chart which is inherently weak as it is considered “empty” with no main stars.

Fortunately, she has very good help and top notch medical personnel to attend to her. She will continue to face health challenges in 2015, and needs to be extremely helpful in 2016 as the destruction force of the calendar year and her Life Chart will overlap to hit her in the Fortune house. 2016 is the Year of the Monkey and the Duchess was born in the Year of the Tiger. Tiger and Monkey are directly opposite to each other. In 2016, there is a special star combination that makes a person born in the Year of the Tiger in "direct confrontation” with the god of the animal of the year (being the Monkey). The Duchess can face life threatening health challenges.

I am personally a big fan of the Duchess. I applaud her courage to get married at 85 and admire her incredible luck of finding love in the twilight years of her life, and Alfonso Díez has presented himself as a loyal and devoted companion. I hope she will overcome her health challenges and dazzle the media again with her flowery dresses, bikinis, great sense of humor and uninhibited self-assurance. [TOP]

The two A-listed stars from Hong Kong got married in 2006, and shocked everyone when they divorced in 2011, the year Nicholas Tse won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor and their children, Lucas and Quintus were only 4 years old and 1 year old respectively.

There is on-going speculation that the two of them may get back together, and Cecilia is said to be still holding the torch for him hoping for a reconciliation. Will this happen any time soon?

It was reported that Cecilia was the one who first said she wanted a divorce, but it was more a desperate move for attention and trying to get Nicholas to respond to her demands. Looking at Nicholas’ Life Chart, he had the destruction force of the Decade Chart residing in his Marriage house in 2011. The star distribution for ages 30 and 31 (he filed for divorce on June 14, 2011 and his birthday is August 29) had the destruction force hitting Cecilia’s Marriage house in his Life Chart (as determined based on where she fits in his life). He no longer wanted to be in a committed relationship, and most of all, he did not want her in his life, not as a lover, mate or partner. He wanted out.

Nicholas is currently in the decade for ages 33 to 42, from 2013 to 2022. In this decade, the destruction force impacts the star called the Sun in the Mobility house of the decade, and reflects directly on the Life house of the decade which is empty with no main stars so it is considered a weak house. Nicholas will still remain a big name with star power garnering attention and making good money, but it is built on momentum from the previous decade. There will still be admirers as he is a very handsome man of fame and enormous personal fortune, but he will not be interested in settling down with anyone in a committed relationship. He certainly will not want to get back with Cecilia. Their interaction will be in their role as parents to the two children.

Cecilia is currently in the decade for ages 31 to 40, from 2011 to 2020. From an astrological perspective, the trigger for the divorce was driven by her star distribution, as 2011 was the year of transition when she ended the previous decade and entered a new decade. The prefix of the current decade is the same as the year when she was born, so the impact of the four forces on the current decade will be doubly strong. Her biggest challenge to finding peace and happiness in the current decade is that the destruction force hits the star called the Moon in her Home (Real Estate Properties) house of the Life Chart. Since her divorce, she has been travelling all over the world, taking her two children with her. By 2014, she has settled with the two children in Singapore but she still travels regularly to Mainland China, Hong Kong, Canada, etc. for business and pleasure.

She is still open and receptive to a reconciliation with Nicholas but it is not going to materialize. Sadly, despite her good looks and substantial personal wealth, she will not find love (defined as someone who will win her heart and sweep her off her feet) in the current decade. Part of the problem is that Nicholas Tse was a great catch and there are not a lot of suitors who can measure up to or surpass him. She is also known to be very generous in providing financial support to her parents and siblings. How many guys want to take on the challenge of being her mate that comes with enormous financial burden? [TOP]

© Copyright 2014 Debbie Yeung