ABSTRACT
John Bull is shown literally bearing on his back the expense of the royal weddings, while the dialogue in each print allude to the salacious stories surrounding many of the participants. This connection between royal morality and the good of the state was stated quite openly in the caricature John Bull Advising with his Superiors, published in 1808. In this remarkable satire, John Bull is a country bumpkin who not only gives advice, but directly confronts the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York about their immoral private lives compromising the country:Sarvant Measters. John denounces the royal brother's licentious behavior, and stresses that personal virtue is an indispensable prerequisite for a monarch. Yet the most spectacular examples of caricature as charivari on royalty were produced in 1820-21 after the Regent had become George IV and attempted to divorce his wife on charges of adultery.
