Recently the members of the new Dutch government were sworn in by the Queen. They had to redo it because one of the channels had missed the ceremony due to an ad break.

To swear allegiance to a person is actually quite odd. This person may well go on to do stupid things – I’m thinking, for example, of the Spanish king who went hunting elephants.

There were even a few ministers at the swearing in of the Dutch government who would actually love to abolish the monarchy. So they were taking an oath to someone they want to get rid of.

Now, some legal experts will argue that ‘the Queen’ represents ‘the people’. But if there’s anything you have to watch out for, it’s the people: the people are anonymous. You can only consult your own conscience.

What did Arnold swear or promise?