Even those who don’t “believe” in astrology can’t resist glimpsing at their stars. For those who want to know more there are the far more precise horoscopes, charts that map the heavens for the place and time of an individual’s birth. Obviously, astrologers worldwide were poised, weeks before the birth, to calculate the royal baby’s chart. However, the planetary setup for this period, one that moved into alignment on 26 June, is so powerful there was no question this young price would be extraordinary. This involves the sensible Saturn, visionary Neptune and, as of late June, Jupiter, planet of good fortune. While this benefits all those born under the sign of Cancer, as well as every Cancerian child born during this period – few will have the advantages, or the pressures, of this royal infant.

Each sign has several distinct traits. While Cancers are often said to be homebodies, that’s only one side of it. The sign’s about emotional sensitivity, sometimes an intense vulnerability and, especially, about nurturing. It’s about a sort of ‘emotional home’. For Cancerians, in childhood, the mother is frequently a pivotal figure. As an adult, this nurturing focuses on pursuits from gardens and buildings to fortunes or empires, a prime example of the latter being Cancer, Richard Branson; others express those deep feelings creatively, examples being film writer and director, Ingmar Bergman to playwright, Tom Stoppard artist Tracey Emin and novelist Earnest Hemingway. And some focus on nurturing peace in the world: Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.

This sign has been prominent in British royalty in history, and especially, for the Windsors. While for royals the profession is already determined – building and maintaining a family and a kingdom – the need remains to experience a rich emotional life. This has shaped royal characters all the way back to that canny, hyper-sensitive womaniser, and Cancerian, Henry VIII, whose serial seductions were prompted by both drives. This pattern of was repeated in the last century Crown Price Edward (later, briefly, King Edward VIII). In these alliances he sought the emotional warmth he insisted he’d been denied by his mother, the remote Queen Mary. His abdication shifted the crown to his brother, George VI.

The sign Cancer bowed out for two generations, until Prince Charles, dallied with Cancer (Camilla Shand, later Parker-Bowles) married another Cancer, (Princess Diana), then ultimately, married Camilla. Charles is a Scorpio, but the Moon, which signifies womanhood and is associated with the sign Cancer, is crucially positioned in his chart; this indicates the need for a sensitive, nurturing woman in his life.

Princess Diana, also suffered from maternal trauma. When she was 8, her mother left her father, who was then granted custody. This, in turn, made Princess Diana determined to nurture her sons, to be there. While the princes lost her, through her sudden death in 1997, her efforts left them with a legacy of powerful emotional security, which will have been – and remains – vital for William, also Cancer.

Now the Cambridges have become parents of another royal Cancerian.

Judging by his chart, he’ll add to the royal Cancerian lore. He could even follow in the footsteps of the Dalai Lama and Mandela, inspiring others and taking the role peacemaker.