LONDON - Britain's satirical cartoonists are sharpening their pencils for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29, but are likely to keep their cruelest portrayals in check.

Partly reflecting the British obsession with class and status, the butt of most cartoonists' jokes are usually those occupying high office and the monarchy, so a royal wedding is fertile hunting ground for mischievous illustrators.

Prince William's cartoon depiction is usually defined by a thinning hairline, rosy cheeks and lantern jaw, but the young royal's unremarkable ears and nose mean he escapes much of the ridicule heaped on his father, Prince Charles.