The caption, adapted from the final battle scene of Henry IV part 1 (‘It is the Prince of Wales that threatens thee’), identifies the figures, while ironically emphasising the gulf between royal warfare ‘now’ and ‘then’.
Image: A line drawing of two men. On the left, Prince Hal wears a full suit of plate armour, a helmet topped with a crown, and a tunic emblazoned with the royal arms, and carries a sword and shield. He looks faintly surprised by the other figure: Edward, Prince of Wales, who stands at attention and salutes, wearing First Word War military uniform including a peaked cap and gun holster. His left hand, at his side, holds a lit cigarette. Between the two is a single feather piercing a banner with the motto ‘Ich dien’. Another banner at the bottom bears the artist’s name, Byam Shaw. Below this, the caption “It is the Prince of Wales” is quoted from Shakespeare’s Henry IV part 1, Act 5, scene 4.
Published in the programme to a pageant commemorating Shakespeare’s Tercentenary at Drury Lane in 1916, Shaw’s wartime cartoon shows Prince Hal in armour. He casts a bemused look at the effete, cigarette-smoking Edward, Prince of Wales (the future Edward VIII).
