biography. “Nearly 90 years on, the horoscope is quite possibly the most formidable legacy of HRH the Princess Margaret.” It being the 19th century, there was at the time an astronomer royal but sadly no astrologer royal. Yet Naylor’s article gave him this unofficial status, to judge by the 28,000 letters that were soon flopping through the letterbox every week. This was despite his predictions of happenings that did not happen. “Hitler’s horoscope is not a war horoscope,”


stated a confident Naylor in the late 1930s. “If and when war comes, not he but others will strike the first blow.” The erroneous Naylor compounded his error by his suggestions for the possible flashpoints for the Second Word War: “the Mediterranean” and “the Near East”, both of which were unhelpfully vague locations, and “Ireland”, which was neutral in the eventual conflict. Yet more baffling were the reasons why the


nations should be at each other’s throats: “1) The childless marriage; 2) The failure of agriculturalists to understand the ways of nature and conserve the fertility of the soil.” Even back in the 1930s, readers might have pondered over 1) which particular childless couple would have caused the guns to go off. As for 2), the best retort is that the Dig for Victory


reassuring to believe there are forces beyond your control: it’s not all up to you.” Despite the setbacks, Naylor carried on for a decade and a half, during which time many papers also hired their own in-house soothsayer. A considerable proportion of readers might not believe heavenly bodies actually influenced their personality or fate but couldn’t resist the occasional squint at the horoscopes anyway. Newspaper horoscopes, which have to


campaign was probably less a factor than the invasion of Poland. Given wrong calls of this magnitude, how come horoscopes have survived in newspapers for eight decades? “People believe they have been told something specific to them but, when you look very carefully, you find it could apply to anyone,” declares Julian Baggini, one of the few freelance philosophers who has been the answer to a University Challenge question. His hobby is “debunking nonsense – and horoscopes are a very easy target”. He adds: “It can be


compress the workings of fate into a few sentences, are sometimes described as ‘entertainment’ by serious astrologers; the late Patric Walker, the astrological sage of the Mail on Sunday, studied the A-Zodiac of the trade for six years under Queen magazine’s soothsayer Celeste (whose copy I used to subedit in a baffled way). Walker also carried out private consultations of the sort that require the precise time of birth to pinpoint the position of the heavenly bodies influencing life and circumstances. (‘Horoscope’ derives from the Greek for ‘hour’ and ‘watch’.) My partner remembers that many moons ago she consulted him to be told “You are in for a difficult journey.” She was indeed; when she was travelling in Italy, her train was held up – by an earthquake on the line. Coincidence? Or does the answer lie in


the stars? theJournalist | 15


HULTON ARCHIVE


RUE DES ARCHIVES /PVDE


Looking back to:


1930


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