Mystic Meg

Margaret Anne Lake (27 July 1942 – 9 March 2023), best known by her stage name Mystic Meg, was an English astrologer who had a regular astrology column in The Sun and the News of the World.<ref name=stars/>

She also hosted Mystic Meg's Wheel of Destiny for Sun Bingo.<ref name="pressgazette">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

She came to greater public attention when she hosted what became a regular item on the first broadcast of the National Lottery draw in 1994. Her image also appears on various astrology-related books, posters and merchandise.

Early life and education

Mystic Meg was born Margaret Anne Lake on 27 July 1942, in Accrington, Lancashire, to Bill Lake, an RAF aircrewman, and his wife Millicent (née Howard).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="sky">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> Of Romani heritage, she grew up in Accrington and was taught astrology by her grandmother. Her mother formed a new relationship before her father's demobilisation in 1946, and the marriage ended. Meg never saw her father after her parents parted.<ref name=":0" />

Meg studied English at the University of Leeds, and then became a sub-editor at the News of the World, rising to become deputy editor of its weekend colour supplement Sunday. In the 1980s, she became the paper's regular astrologer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Career

From 1994 to 2000, Mystic Meg appeared weekly on The National Lottery Live in 'Mystic Meg Predicts', a 45-second reading segment, during which Meg attempted to predict facts about the future winner.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Comedian Brian Conley spoofed Mystic Meg under the guise of Septic Peg, a character on The Brian Conley Show, with Meg even appearing alongside his parody.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Upon her death, her agent paid tribute claiming that, in Britain, her name became synonymous with foretelling the future, to the extent that the answer "I'm not Mystic Meg" would be used by everyone from people in the street to politicians to evade questions about future events.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In April 2015, Meg became the face of bookmaker Gala Coral Group's Grand National "You're Guaranteed a Fortune" marketing campaign. Images of Meg and her crystal ball featured in all of Coral's 1,850 shops via window posters and Coral TV.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Meg owned a number of racehorses<ref name="stars">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> under the company name Mystic Meg Limited, based in Bedford.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The horses include Astrodonna,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Astroangel<ref name=racingpost>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Astronova,<ref name=racingpost/> and other horses with celestial names. Her horses were trained by Mark Tompkins from the mid-1990s until 2019 and then by James Eustace. The most successful horse she owned was Astrocharm, which won the Lillie Langtry Stakes at Goodwood in 2004, and she also bred racehorses.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2015, Meg launched a website featuring horoscopes, personalised readings, and a telephone hotline hosted by psychics.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She left The Sun on 2 January 2015.<ref name=pressgazette/>

Personal life and death

Meg lived in Notting Hill with her seven cats. She died from influenza on 9 March 2023 at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London, aged 80.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="sky" />

External links

• Official website
• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 1245263

 | name/{{#if:{{#invoke:ustring|match|1=1245263|2=^nm}}
   | Template:Trim/
   | nm1245263/
   }}
 | {{#if: {{#property:P345}}
   | name/Template:First word/
   | find?q=%7B%7B%23if%3A+%0A++++++%7C+%7B%7B%7Bname%7D%7D%7D%0A++++++%7C+%5B%5B%3ATemplate%3APAGENAMEBASE%5D%5D%0A++++++%7D%7D&s=nm
   }}
 }}{{#if: 1245263  {{#property:P345}} | {{#switch: 
 | award | awards = awards Awards for | biography | bio = bio Biography for
 }}}} {{#if: 
 | {{{name}}}
 | Template:PAGENAMEBASE
 }}] at IMDb{{#if: 1245263{{#property:P345}}
 | Template:EditAtWikidata
 | Template:Main other

}}{{#switch:{{#invoke:string2|matchAny|^nm.........|^nm.......|nm|.........|source=1245263|plain=false}}

 | 1 | 3 =  Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning
 | 4 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning

}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb name with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | id | name | section }}