Mystic Meg – real name Margaret Lake – dies, aged 80
The astrologer wrote horoscopes for The Sun and The News of the World throughout her multi-decade career.
Astrologer and media personality Margaret Lake – who was best known as Mystic Meg – has died aged 80.
Lake regularly wrote horoscopes for The News of the World and The Sun from the 1980s onwards, and appeared on BBC One's the National Lottery Live.
Her death was confirmed by her agent of 34 years Dave Shapland, who told The Sun that she was "without any question" Britain's "most famous astrologer by a million miles".
"Nobody came close to Meg in that respect. She was followed by millions in this country and also around the world," he added. "She even became part of the English language – if a politician, somebody from showbiz or ordinary people in the street are asked a tricky question they will say ‘Who do you think I am, Mystic Meg?’ It shows what an impact she made."
Lake lived in Notting Hill, west London with her seven cats and died at St Mary's Hospital at 3:45am on Thursday morning.
Born in 1942, Lake grew up in Lancashire's Accrington before joining The News of the World as a sub-editor after university, eventually becoming the deputy editor of its weekend supplement.
After learning about astrology from her Romany grandmother, she became the paper's astrologer in 1986, going by Meg Markova and writing weekly horoscopes for several decades before the paper's demise. Three years later, she also began reading horoscopes over the phone and broke BT records doing so.
In 1994, Lake began appearing weekly on the National Lottery Live for a 'Mystic Meg Predicts' 45-second segment, during which she would predict facts about the draw's future winner.
Speaking to New Statesman (via LancsLive), Lake previously said: "Just before the Lottery started, I got the big money rune. On that same day, I got a call from National Lottery Live, asking me to make a prediction on the first show.
"So the runes were right, though the big money was for other people! The prediction I made came true, so I was asked back."
After writing horoscopes in The Sun, Lake left in 2015 to set up her own website which featured tarot reading, horoscopes and astrological jewellery.
Outside of astrology, Lake owned horses, including three racehorses and four mares at stud. "I use my astrological skills to love-match the mares with the right stallions," she told the Independent in 2006.
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