That's it. no more complaining about the press, Diana. And, Charles, stop whining. The Prince and Princess of Wales may feel that they have received more ill-mannered jabs from the pens of cartoonists than any other royal personages in the history of the realm, but that's not so. In fact, Charles and Diana are getting off pretty easy. According to The Kings and Queens: An Irreverent Cartoon History of the British Monarchy, a new book by Kenneth Baker, British cartoonists have always been a spectacularly disrespectful lot when it comes to the monarchy. Back in the 18th century, for example, the royal family found itself in a virtual free-fire zone, constantly under attack from a regiment of sarcastic cartoonists. In comparison, Diana and Charles ain't seen nothin'. "Cartoonists today simply do not go as far as they did back then," says Baker, a leading Conservative member of the British Parliament.

He has a point--which he makes forcefully in both his book and a two-part bbc documentary that aired in May in Britain. Just look at the treatment George IV (1820-30) received at the hands of the caricaturists of his day. George, of course, was an easy target. As the Prince of Wales, he wallowed in debauchery, dangling a string of flashy mistresses and accumulating a massive debt to match his massive girth. His marriage to Caroline of Brunswick was a disaster. They hated each other from the beginning, and separated soon after the wedding, setting up rival courts and slandering each other via the press until Caroline scampered off to Italy in hot pursuit of her Italian lover.

All the sordid details of this messy relationship were depicted in cartoons sold by the thousand in London coffee houses. One shows the portly George being transported to the bed of his mistress on the back of her husband, the Earl of Jersey. "How many [cuckold] horns do I hold up?" inquires George. "As many as you please," replies the earl. "It was a raunchy age," says Baker. "In the 18th century cartoonists could get away with anything. Members of the royal family are shown defecating, urinating, vomiting and fornicating."

Occasionally, these aristocratic bodily functions were depicted as being deployed in service to the nation. In a cartoon from the time of the Napoleonic wars, George III, his body drawn in the shape of the map of Britain, is shown disrupting a French invasion flotilla with a burst of royal body wastes exploding from his exposed posterior. This cartoon, vulgar to modern eyes, was considered flattering at the time.

Like many British monarchs, George III went through a marvelous metamorphosis at the hands of cartoonists. Early in his reign he was portrayed as an obese, penny-pinching man who swilled medicines used to fight venereal disease. But in his twilight years he was depicted as St. George, the revered symbol of the nation, slaying the dragon Napoleon. George's famed madness is left unportrayed.

Cartoonists, says Baker, tend to be harshest on royals-in-waiting. But once a new monarch is securely in office, a touch of deference sets in. This was especially true in the 19th century. Cartoonists sniped gently at an inexperienced Queen Victoria during her very early years. In one cartoon the Prime Minister is shown leading the new Queen about by her nose. But soon Victoria became sacrosanct, and cartoonists had to settle for swipes at Albert, her beloved consort.

Some monarchs escaped caricature entirely. During World War II, cartoonists ignored bland George VI (1936-52) and concentrated their attention on the irresistible figure of Winston Churchill, who had become the preferred icon for the beleaguered nation. When Elizabeth became Queen in 1952, leading cartoonists were so awed by her popularity that initially they sketched her only from the back. Her face was not shown.

But Elizabeth's honeymoon gradually came to an end in the rebellious 1960s, when irreverence became an article of faith among the young in Britain. Cartoons in Private Eye, a satirical weekly, led the way with impertinent potshots at the Queen and Prince Philip, and by the time the marriages of Elizabeth's children began to collapse around their protruding ears, cartoonists everywhere let the acid flow from their pens.

But in the end it is all good, clean fun. "The cartoons do not weaken the monarchy," says Baker. "The cartoonists reflect no more than the mood of their time." Over the centuries, says Baker, the truly big characters in British history--both royalty and politicians--have survived their lampooning with ease and grace. And some have actually enjoyed it. George IV was an avid collector of cartoons, as is Prince Philip today. It's a hobby Charles and Diana might just consider now.