Dail Sketch/Marie O'Halloran: King Bertie of Europe was away looking after his continental subjects. So Queen Mary was minding the castle.
And minding it needed, for Fort Government came under sustained siege from the pretenders to the throne who sought to breach the ramparts.
Calls of "off with his head", echoed around the Chamber. Not from the Queen, who modestly rejected her royal title.
Instead those outside the realm sought the head of Prince Charlie McCreevy of Punchestown and Prince Joe Walsh of Agriculture.
Fine Gael's Enda Kenny fired the first cannon when he asked if the Tánaiste was embarrassed by the report on the €15 million granted to Punchestown equestrian centre, and that the project money was awarded on the basis of discussions between Charlie and Joe without any proper evaluation.
Did that represent the "sound public finances" that were "essential to good management of the country" as espoused by PD literature.
Ms Harney might not have been embarrassed, but her response was one of the shortest she's ever given to any question.
"We must certainly learn lessons from the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General regarding the evaluation procedure for capital projects and the processes we have in place in Departments."
Cannon number two was fired by Labour's Pat Rabbitte, who suggested the Tánaiste did not understand the difference between there being evaluation procedures and when they were not applied.
The Tánaiste reminded him that Labour TDs supported Punchestown when it was announced, but he replied that they were not involved in the evaluation. He suggested that in any other jurisdiction at least one Minister would go.
But Deputy Rabbitte "knows perfectly well" it was not a resigning matter, she replied.
There was a moment of relief when Socialist Joe Higgins asked if the Tánaiste had taken a jaunting car around the lakes of Killarney because she was "cracking the whip" at a few of her favourite targets - public service workers but not at the "biggest cartels".
But in self-deprecating mode, Queen Mary said she would "not inflict that punishment on any poor horse".
He also made the first royal remarks, suggesting that the Taoiseach and Tánaiste were "swanning around" the EU, like the King and Queen of Europe preaching competitiveness. She demurred, however.
"I am also not into the royals, whether the Freddie Mercury kind or any other," she said of music band Queen.
The royal republic rocks on.