Margaret Lake, the famed astrologer known professionally as Mystic Meg, has died at the age of 80 following an unspecified illness.
Famed for her theatrical presentation and eerie voice, Mystic Meg rose to prominence in the 1990s appearing on the televised National Lottery draws. For the past 23 years, she had written regular horoscope readings for newspaper The Sun.
Born in Accrington, Lancashire on July 27th, 1942, Lake studied English at the University of Leeds and enjoyed a successful career in journalism before becoming known as an astrologer.
Lake started out working for newspaper the News of the World, eventually becoming deputy editor of their Sunday supplement. However, she had always been interested in astrology, having been taught the art by her Romany grandmother.
By the 1980s, Lake adopted the pen name Meg Markova and began to write the newspaper’s regular astrology column, accompanied by photographs of her in outlandish Gothic costumes with a crystal ball. This became Lake’s trademark, and by the 90s she took the Mystic Meg persona to television.
She appeared as Mystic Meg on the National Lottery broadcasts until 2000, becoming a popular celebrity off the back of it. She appeared in TV commercials for the drink Oasis, had her own Mystic Meg Tarot video game, and was famously parodied by comedian Brian Conley with the character Septic Peg.
Meg had been admitted to hospital last month due to severe flu, but it has not been confirmed at present what was the cause of her death. She continued writing her astrology column for The Sun to the end, her last horoscopes being published this very day.
We at Eighties Kids extend our deepest sympathies to all who knew her.