The Morning After Marriage, or A Scene on the Continent
The Morning After Marriage... is a sequel to Wife & No Wife, or a Trip to the Continent which had shown the Prince of Wales marrying Mrs. Maria Fitzherbert, his paramour of several years. It first appeared on April 5th, 1786 approximately a week after the earlier print, when rumors were flying about a possible secret ceremony. (The marriage had actually taken place December 15th, 1785.) And at that time this deliberately provocative print must have done its part to fan the flames of the scandal.
Two years later, both prints were reissued when the Prince's finances became a topic of heated discussion, because the discovery of a valid marriage to a Catholic would have disqualified the Prince from the succession and made it much more difficult to argue that Parliament should vote to pay his debts. In fact, on April 12th, 1788, when Charles James Fox confidently (and mistakenly) asserted that no such marriage had taken place, The Morning After Marriage, or A Scene on the Continent must have gained a new and eager audience more cynical or better informed than Fox.
© Trustees of the British Museum
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The print is set in the room of an inn. A maid servant has arrived with morning coffee or tea. The Prince and Mrs. Fitzherbert have just awakened. The Prince yawns and stretches crudely, his crotch prominently on display. Beckoning from the vagina-like opening of the bed curtains, Mrs. Fitzherbert seems to be inviting the Prince back to bed. Signs and symbols of the night's sexual activities are visible throughout, including the broken glass on the table and floor, and the dripping decanter. But the bent candle on the table and the limp boots at the Prince's feet may suggest that "Plenipo Georgy" (in the signature line) is no longer up to the task.
Similarities between this print and the "After" plate of Hogarth's Before and After are not accidental.
Sources and Reading
- Commentary from the British Museum on The Morning After Marriage, or A Scene on the Continent
- Draper Hill, Fashionable Contrasts, 1966, #55
- "George IV of the United Kingdom," Wikipedia
- "Maria Fitzherbert," Wikipedia
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