His crown was a straw hat bedecked with carrots and broccoli, his regal chain was a string of garlic and spuds.
"I'll rule lightly. I'll keep them all on my side, but I might have the odd check-up on them every now and then," declared Michael Staunton at the weekend when he was declared king of the Galway city market.
The fact that he is originally a Co Clare man didn't seem to bother the fellow traders at St Nicholas's church, many of whom have roots as diverse as the produce they sell.
Mr Staunton, who lives within Co Galway's boundaries in Kinvara, has spent 50 years travelling up to the Saturday market. He declared himself almost speechless with delight when his colleagues decided to mark his jubilee.
Mr Staunton was clad in a cloak of gold and ermine, before being raised onto a sedan or throne, and carried through the market, preceded by a piper, to cheers and roars of "all hail the king".
Among the many there to witness the occasion and sup some champagne were members of Mr Staunton's family, close colleagues like Mr Andy Onione, a former English rugby player turned Roscommon farmer and market trader, and Johnny "Cabbage" O'Mahony, a grower in Loughrea who sends much of his produce up to the Saturday stalls.
Mr Staunton was a young teenager when he first started helping out a neighbour, Seán Keane, at the market. At the time, donkeys and carts were the main form of transport for the farmers, who came from Barna in the west, from Headford in the north and from Co Clare.
Much of the produce was live, said Mr Staunton, and he sold hens for soup. However, he began with cooking apples - "I persuaded some of my neighbours at home to give me their orchards" - and "a few turnips".
As he expanded, he relied on turf lorries, the train and horse and trolley, but now drives a white van right to his patch, which is at the entrance to St Nicholas's church.
Mr Staunton has no immediate plans to retire, and the city market is now going from strength to strength, having extended to Sunday hours.
However, this was not without a High Court action over the city council's issuing of licences, which has left market traders with a substantial legal bill.
