Mardi Gras Royalty: Mystic Krewe of Barkus at Galtoire's

The march of Mardi Gras royalty continued as The Mystic Krewe of Barkus toasted its king and queen at Galatoire's Restaurant in New Orleans on Friday. The queen, a bit overweight, was not happy being asked to park herself in a small chair, and she totally disdained requests to pose for pictures.

The king was more tolerant of the Carnival festivities leading up to weekend parades, but really — there were a lot of speeches and champagne toasts before lunch was served at the famous French Quarter restaurant where Friday lunches are a pre-Mardi Gras tradition for parade royalty.

The salute to King Wally, a mixture of poodle and retriever, and Queen Maggie, a rescued golden lab, who rule over Barkus, an all-dog parade Sunday, kicked off the first big weekend of parades with 26 krewes rolling in the metropolitan area between Friday night and Sunday night.