What Has Love Got to Do With Getting Married?

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"What Has Love Got to Do With Getting Married" is a song from the Academy Award nominated score song of The Slipper and the Rose. It was written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman and performed in the film by Michael Hordern as the King of Euphrania, Lally Bowers as the Queen and Julian Orchard as "Cousin Montague".

[edit] About the song

In the lyric, the king tries to persuade his son that marriage can be made on grounds other than love. "Just find a mate" cries the royal court. In the first verse the King sings

What Has Love Got to Do With Getting Married...

By the final verse, the irony and general hypocrisy is compounded when the "loose canon" cousin enters into the musical conversation. He sings:

What has marriage got to do with being happy? Being happy can't compare with being royal! Being royal you ingender ev'ry luxury and splendor, while a marriage can get over ripe and spoil....

The prince is not swayed by this.