B., by the grace of God King (or Queen) of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, do solemnly and sincerely in the presence of God, profess, testify, and declare, that I do believe that in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper there is not any Transubstantiation of the elements of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ at or after the consecration thereof by any person whatsoever: and that the invocation or adoration of the Virgin Mary or any other Saint, and the Sacrifice of the Mass, as they are now used in the Church of Rome, are superstitious and idolatrous.

[6][7][8] The declaration, in that form, was originally administered under the Test Acts to all civil and military officials of the Crown, including the monarch him/herself (starting with William III and Mary II).

Following Catholic emancipation, the law was changed to require only the monarch (who remained Supreme Head of the Church of England) to take the oath.

However, when Edward VII took the throne, he was unhappy at the pointedly anti-Catholic wording of the oath (viewing it as outdated and unnecessarily offensive to Catholics, of whom he had several in his private social circle), and wished to have it changed before the next succession.

When he died in 1910, his successor, George V, who agreed with his father's sentiments, made it known that he would refuse to open parliament as long as he was obliged to make the declaration in its then-current form.