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R.H. Naylor

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Astrologer

The Resume

    (September 9, 1899-1952)
    Birth name was Richard Harold Naylor
    Hired by the ‘Sunday Express’ to write a horoscope for newly-born Princess Margaret (August 24, 1930)
    Article led to a weekly column for the ‘Sunday Express’
    His column popularized sun-sign astrology: twelve forecasts, one for each Zodiac sign
    Spin-off books include ‘Astrology Reveals What Types of Men Make Money’ and ‘Astrology Reveals What Types of Women Make Good Wives’

Why he might be annoying:

    The ‘Sunday Express’ had originally wanted Cheiro to write Princess Margaret’s forecast, but Cheiro fobbed the job off to Naylor, who was one of his assistants.
    He went for vague generalities (such as ‘events of tremendous importance to the Royal Family and the nation will come about near her [Margaret’s] seventh year’) that astrology believers treat like bold predictions (in this case, of King Edward abdicating in favor of George VI, Margaret’s father, in 1936).
    On the eve of World War II, he told readers not to ‘look to Europe as the seat of conflagration.’ (May 28, 1939)
    Many astrologers complain that the emphasis he placed on sun signs, and their subsequent popularity, badly damaged ‘serious’ astrology.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He turned the astrology column into a ubiquitous newspaper feature.
    As the king of the newspaper astrologers, he received 28,000 letters a week from readers.
    He was right when he predicted Princess Margaret would lead an ‘eventful life.’
    He recorded some 78-rpm records of astrological advice, on which he sounds quite a bit like Noel Coward.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 81.82% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 50 Votes: 50.0% Annoying