Laugh… if the mother-in-law’s a royal - Cartoon Museum's latest exhibition Marriage à la Mode

Published: 18 March 2011
by PAVAN AMARA

THE Cartoon Museum has taken on a heavy topic for its latest exhibition.

Marriage à la Mode will display 250 years of material by cartoonists trying to get to grips with all things marital.

One hundred postcards will follow familiar themes: hen-pecked husband, all-powerful mother-in-law, irritating personal habits and battles of the bedroom.

Decades of cartoon artwork will progress from traditional Victorian family units, to divorce and the resulting “blended” families of the modern age. 

A royal section focuses on blue-blooded unions including the Prince of Wales’s “illegal” wedding in 1785, Albert and Victoria, and Charles and Diana’s very public marital life.

The forthcoming book William and Kate: A Very Public Love Story by Richard Johnston will also feature, along with material on the April wedding that will see the first “commoner” marry a royal close to the throne since 1660.

The exhibition at the museum in Little Russell Street will be open to the public on March 23.