On the day cabinet ministers bowed and curtsied to the Queen, and many of their friends in the media fawned over this brief visit by our unelected head of state, two announcements were made that will have serious consequences for ordinary people in this country.
First we were told that the notice period employers must give before making large-scale redundancies - for many workers a period of great uncertainty and upset, but time at least to try to find a solution or alternative employment - will be halved from 90 days to just 45.
This move will "help workers", according to the Liberal Democrat minister Jo Swinson. It would be tempting to see this as proof that Nick Clegg's latest drive to reinvigorate his desperate party - to show how progressive the Lib Dems are and how successful they have been in stopping the Tories' right wing policies - is just empty rhetoric.
Next we have the Tory minister 'for' disabled people Esther McVey confirming the closure of the Independent Living Fund, which provides dedicated support to help disabled people live independently in their own communities.
She claims she "considered all views carefully" - which would have included those that said it will leave many disabled people without the support they need and will end up costing the taxpayer more - before pressing ahead.
While handing tax breaks to millionaires and punishing the most vulnerable for economic problems we all know they didn't cause, this shower of a government has spat out policy after policy designed to make it easier and quicker to throw people out of work.
Ministers then have the cheek to try to blame them for being unemployed, setting neighbour against neighbour in the most despicable way. The Huffington Post's Mehdi Hasan has brilliantly exposed the lies behind the attacks on people entitled to welfare.
It is clear that austerity isn't working, and it is clear that making it easier to sack people and harder for disabled people to live independently, is no kind of cure for our sick economy.
Instead of these policies of despair and division we need investment in our economy and our public services to create jobs and opportunities to help our communities, and to support people who need it.
I strongly suspect these issues won't have been discussed during the Queen's visit.