The Duke of York greets King George III, who listens agog to his son's wild claims of military success. William Pitt (Prime Minister) sits nearby, writing a list of taxes to pay for the campaign; Queen Charlotte rakes in money from the devil in the background. The Duke was disastrously unsuccessful as commander-in-chief of the British army in Flanders. Pitt tried to have him sacked on his return home, but George forbid it. Gillray's title references Rabelais's Gargantua, in which Pantagruel is 'the all thirsting one' - implying the Duke is a drunk