Cartoons Show The Changing Face Of A Queen

Her Maj is a new cartoon exhibition covering the changing face of the Queen and the changing attitudes towards her over the past 60 years.

Celebrating her Diamond Jubilee, the exhibition at the Cartoon Museum in London shows how when she first came to the throne she was treated with a deference that would be unthinkable today.

Curator Anita O'Brian told Sky News attitudes were very different half a century ago.

"In the 50's she didn't really appear at all, so what you get is this cartoon which is just a few days before the coronation, and you see the state coach and all the panoply... she's not actually shown.

"That's what you notice in these early cartoons and that was the tradition for the early half of the 20th century, that the monarch was very rarely shown - that deferential attitude."

This deferential attitude to the Queen has faded over the years. It has continued to be relatively respectful but her family has fared less well.

Prince Charles and Diana, the cost of the monarchy and the corgis have all been popular subjects.

Martin Rowson, a cartoonist for The Guardian whose work is featured, said he is always enjoyed drawing Her Majesty.

He said: "When I first started drawing her 30 years ago I used to copy her off banknotes because that's the way people saw her.

"There is something wonderfully grumpy about her, it is a nice expression to draw because she has got a head a bit like a pear and her lips are right down at the bottom, and she's got a sort of pear-shaped nose.

"Usually what you get with the Queen is an expression of mild disapproval and grumpiness - and who could blame her with a family like hers?"

Cartoons like Rowson's convey political comment in seconds which is what makes them so effective - something Lord Baker, an ex-cabinet minister and cartoon collector, knows only too well.

He said: "A cartoon can capture a moment, and it's not only the Queen, it's Cameron, it's Clegg, there's Miliband - they capture that moment, and you've got to make a person laugh or at least smile.

"The best ones are so vivid they capture it, and the most vivid ones remain in national memory for a very long time."

The exhibition includes 80 works by over 30 cartoonists and will run until April 8.