I have had to swear the oath of allegiance. Indeed, you don't give the oath of allegiance much thought until you are informed that you, as a human being who was supposed to have been born free, must now agree to be loyal and obedient to someone for life - on the grounds of their birth. I was sort of horrified by the concept of it at first. I couldn't quite believe, as a youngster who wanted to be a soldier, that our parents and grandparents actually believed in this and wanted us to believe in it too. They actually wanted to see us, their own children and grandchildren, become "subjects". This whole idea that the moment of our birth, something which you have no control over, somehow makes you inferior to somebody else - is sort of bizarre. Not only that but, as a subject - it's like you are owned or something. Like any other inherited Royal possession. Like a Royal horse or some Royal cattle.

At first, the thought of having to swear my complete and undying allegiance to a Queen and Her Heirs And Successors just grated against my natural will and conscience. It was like you were consenting, now that you were old enough to do so, to their idea that you were born their slave. You see, for me, it was not so much "rule by genetics" but more like "you are born to be my slaves". For a King begets a Royal Prince. A mere subject begets - well, just another subject. Arghhh! In a way I can't believe they are born to rule over us, that they sort of own us, and we all actually go along with it. Not only that but they are also English to boot.

It goes without saying that I swore the oath of allegiance. So, I guess, I am legally Royal property for life now. Like all the other sons and daughters who fight in our Armed Forces. In a way I just don't get it and, since I was a child, have never really understood it. What do people see in Royalty? The sight of a Prince and, no doubt amusingly for Him, we all sort of revert back into a collective childhood from which none of us, even republicans it seems, are immune. That helps to explain some of the newspaper articles I've read recently. These republican rants are, in the main, what some children and teenagers say to themselves when they first realise that there is a Monarchy. I once did it myself. As for me it's all a bit different now though. When I see the Prince I feel, just as I did at the age of eight or nine, that I ought to bow down to Him, go fight for Him and, well yes, give up my life for Him. Sad. But true.