Almost 50 of the country's 129 MSPs were absent when the Queen visited Holyrood on Thursday to commemorate a decade of devolution.
Administrators boosted numbers in the debating chamber by filling a number of MSPs' vacant seats with Holyrood staff. But South of Scotland MSP Ms Grahame has defended her absence as a matter of principle.
"For many years I have been a republican," she told TheSouthern.
"It is nothing personal to the present monarch but to do with the institution which sits at the top of the privileged pile of the aristocracy – an aristocracy which is in my view outdated in this century, although I respect the views of others who feel otherwise.
"Accordingly it would have been an insult to the Queen and hypocrisy on my part to sit through the proceedings and put on a pretence.
"I could have made some lame excuse but I believe in honesty, even if it is not popular with everyone. Indeed, I understand that the public wants honesty in its politicians, although sometimes they will disagree with an honest opinion, but that is fine by me.
"As security restrictions made ordinary working at parliament impossible, and I had to cancel meetings, I worked on constituency cases, including many emails, from home instead."
Of the other Borders MSPs, Conservatives John Lamont and Derek Brownlee, together with Lib Dem Jeremy Purvis, were all present.
However, Mr Purvis' fellow Lib Dem Jim Hume was absent.
Mr Hume told us: "I had a day full of business meetings in the south of Scotland, which had been arranged for some time, therefore was unable to attend due to being duty-bound."
Mr Purvis told us: "I was present, and, as the Parliament had not invited former members to attend – which I had requested and was disappointed this did not happen – I took Ian Jenkins as my guest. This meant that Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale was represented by its MSPs since 1999."
Mr Lamont said: "The 10th anniversary is a significant event and I was delighted that so many young people from across Scotland were invited to take part in the day. It is important that the Scottish Parliament engages with a wide range of people and it was great to see the building so full, marking the important occasion.
"In her speech, the Queen told MSPs she had been struck by the engagement and innovation they showed in serving the people of Scotland. It was therefore disappointing that almost a third of MSPs failed to turn up to witness the occasion.
"The 10th anniversary of devolution provides us with an opportunity to assess what aspects of devolution have been successful, and also where there is still work to do. Whatever happens, it is important that MSPs do all they can to serve the constituents they represent."
Just more than half of the SNP's 47 MSPs were present. Labour had 29 out of its 46 members in attendance, while 11 of the 16 Lib Dems and 13 of the 16 Conservatives were in the chamber.