Albert Edward, Prince of Wales meets the ghost of Falstaff, accompanied by Mr Punch. The Prince is tall and fat, with a short beard, holding a cigar, and wearing a formal suit and heavy overcoat. Mr Punch stoops, holding his hat and stroking his chin. He also wears a tailcoat; his head has an exaggerated forehead, nose and chin, and he has an exaggerated hunch on his back. Falstaff is rendered in grey to show his status as a ghost; like Albert Edward he is bearded and overweight, but he wears medieval costume including a sword and hood, and carries a plumed hat.

Shade of Falstaff

Anonymous, published in Punch, 1891

1891

Engraving

In a cartoon published by the popular periodical Punch, yet another Prince of Wales is found in company with a Falstaff figure.

The cartoon is accompanied by a scripted scene, in which Edward and Mr Punch travel to the haunted site of the Boar's Head Tavern and encounter the ghost of Falstaff, who acknowledges that he has worthy successors in late Victorian London.

Published to mark the future Edward VII's fiftieth birthday, the cartoon highlights the disparity between Shakespeare's youthful Prince of Wales and this middle-aged one, whose physical corpulence equally invites the comparison with Falstaff.

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William Heath

1825-29

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Cradle and stand

Unknown maker

Late fifteenth century

Cradle and stand

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The Trial of Queen Victoria

Anonymous, published by Henry Beal

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A black and white comic print on a slightly dog-eared sheet of paper. Queen Victoria, in a crown, gown with ermine-lined sleeves, and full ceremonial regalia, stands to the right of centre, pointing an accusatory finger at a seated man in a cardinal's robes and broad-brimmed hat. Behind him is a snake. Between them on the floor is a set of labelled torture implements ('Iron Boot,' 'Pincers,' 'Steel Cap'), a box labelled 'Relics', and a tabled labelled 'Hypocrisy,' bearing a large book. Two men in black are seated behind the table: one of them wears a broad hat and spectacles. Behind them at the centre sits the Pope, wearing the Papal Tiara, with a horned devil sitting on his shoulders. The Pope is flanked by other men, several of whom carry crosiers, or in one case a staff with a sign labelled 'Rack.' Behind the queen stand Prince Albert and the Duke of Wellington, both in ceremonial regalia. The Prince of Wales stands in the foreground on the right, carrying a broad-brimmed hat. Above the image is the title: 'The Trial of Queen Victoria; or, England as the Pope would have it in 1860 (slightly altered from the original engraving.' Below this are speeches assigned to the devil ('Go on my boys, I am looking at you!') and to the queen: 'I am a simple woman, much too weak To oppose your cunning. You're meek and humble mouthed; You sign your place and calling; with full seeming, With meekness and humility; but your heart Is crammed with arrogance, spleen and pride. Therefore I say again I utterly abhor - yea, from my soul Refuse you for my judge; whom, yet once more, I hold my most malicious foe, and think not at all a friend to truth.' Further dialogue is printed below the image as follows, with the character names partially censored: 'Prince of Wales: I wish I had him aboard, wouldn't I give him a round dozen for his impudence, that's all. Newman (the Puseyite): Take down her words, my dear brother in Faith, and get the Instruments of Torture ready. Those holy arguments will soon convert her to the true faith. The Old Duke: Say the words, your Majesty, we'll make another trial of up guards and at 'em. Cardinal: Heretic, for your accursed obstinacy, listen while I pronounce the anthem of the church on you. May the, etc. May the Holy Virgin curse you! May St Michael, the Advocate of the Holy Spirits, curse you!! May the wonderful company of Prophets curse you!!! May all the Spirits and Holy Virgins curse you!!!! May you be cursed wherever you may be - in the house, in the stable, in the road, on the footpath, in the wood, in the water, or in the Church. May you be cursed living, dying, eating, drinking, hungering, thirsting, fasting, sleeping, slumbering, waking, walking, or resting. May you be cursed outwardly and inwardly, in your hair, in your head, in your cars, cheeks, and jaw bones; fingers, breasts, and stomach; groins, thighs, hips, etc, etc. - (Vide the Anathema appointed by the Roman Church.)'

A Treatise on the Identity of Herne’s Oak Shewing the Maiden Tree to have been the Real One

William Perry

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The front cover of a book with a wooden binding. The wood is varnished to a dark reddish brown, and carved with oak leaves and acorns. The title 'Herne's Oak' is just visible embossed on the spine. In the centre, a cutaway section in the wooden cover reveals a sepia photograph of an old, dying oak tree with a fence around its base, with other, living trees in the background.