James Gilray The Bridal Night Hand coloured etching with aquatint. Published May 18th 1797 by H Humphrey 27 St James Street. 45.4 by 30.2 cms
The Prince of Würtemberg, grotesquely corpulent, conducts his bride in the procession (right to left) towards the bridal chamber which is led by the King and Queen. George III, plainly dressed and wearing a hat, partly concealed by a pillar, hurries forward; in each hand is a candle-stick holding a guttering candle-end. The Queen, covered with jewels and her face hidden by a poke-bonnet, carries a steaming bowl of 'Posset'. On the back of the Prince's coat are slung five ribbons from which dangle the jewels of orders; three garters encircle his leg; a star decorates the bag of his wig. The Princess gazes at him from behind her fan. Round her waist is the ribbon of an order, to which is attached a jewel containing a whole length miniature of her husband, which exaggerates his corpulence. Behind the Princess is a group of princes: the Prince of Wales, in regimentals, is fat and sulky. Prince William of Gloucester stands with splayed-out feet as in BMSat 8716. The Duke of Clarence (caricatured) puts a hand on the right arm of the Prince of Wales. Behind is the more handsome head of the Duke of York. These four heads are clever juxtapositions of variations on the family features. Behind them is the grotesque profile of the Stadholder with closed eyes. The sharp features of Lady Derby tower above the Stadholder. Next him is the Princess of Wales, not caricatured. Two princesses hold up their sister's train, and, behind, a sea of feathered headdresses recedes in perspective under a lighted chandelier.
Salisbury (left), the Lord Chamberlain, standing stiffly in profile to the right, much caricatured, with wand and key as in BMSat 8649, holds open the door through which the King is about to pass. Pitt, on the outskirts of the procession, carries a sack inscribed '£80,000' (the amount of the Princess's dowry). On the wall is a large picture, inscribed 'Le Triomphe de l'Amour', of an elephant with a little cupid sitting on his neck blowing a trumpet.