The scouts have always had this one for years. "I promise to do my best to do my duty to God and to the Queen" - theoretically anyway it's voluntary but no one told me all those years ago.

I remember I made a mental reservation that it wasn't the Queen of England I had in mind, and just in came, held my finger's a quarter of an inch detached from the Union Jack. And of course "my duty" is open to a range of interpretations... That's a Jesuit education for you.

Mind, this one they are on about is a bit more specific, talking about "Queen Elizabeth" and all. But "allegiance", now, that could give room for mental manoeuvre.

Anyway, it all sounds very un-British to me, swearing oaths of allegiance and so forth. The kind of embarrassing thing people do in other countries. I can't see it happening.