The oath taken by British sovereigns at their coronations is laid down by a statute dating from 1688. Any oath taken other than in accordance with the correct statutory form is contrary to law. Taking the authorised form of the oath is a condition on which the crown is held by any individual. The oath taken by the present sovereign omitted the promise to govern according to the statutes agreed upon in Parliament. Any variance from the statutory form is problematic but the clause omitted is the clause that most clearly expresses the central concern of the Williamite settlement. The deficiencies in the oath taken, while reasonably apparent, do not appear to have been judicially recognised hitherto. The legal basis of the present oath has been raised in the political sphere but potential difficulties have been set aside on grounds of expediency. Given the unlawfulness of the oath taken, there is a political and constitutional imperative in establishing that deficiencies in the oath do not fatally taint the reign which follows. This article will advance two possible legal means of reconciling an improper oath with a perfectly valid reign.

Four species of monarchs (Pomarea spp.) presently inhabit French Polynesia, one on Tahiti and three on the Marquesas Islands. Although all species populations were abundant during the nineteenth century or at the beginning of the twentieth century, their range and population numbers have recently decreased dramatically: intensive field surveys conducted between 1998 and 2000 reveal that four subspecies are now extinct from five islands in the Marquesas in the last decades. Introduction of the black rat is the major cause of extinction and decline, now amplified by new threats such as aggressive introduced birds and invasive alien plants reducing suitable habitats for breeding.