I believe that part of the Oath taken by Henry VIII refers to the power of Parliament as well as the Common Law of England. Even so, parliament was not a democratic institution as we understand it today, but, as you said Jinja, the genesis was there, despite the fact that monarchs since the time King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta (and especially the Tudors and early Stuart monarchs) had devised various ways to circumvent parliament and the Common Law, most notably through the use of the court known as Star Chamber. As a political tool it was misused by the Tudor and the early Stuart monarchs and was a major factor in the events leading to the Civil War. Swearing to uphold the rule of law - or to put it another way -- to uphold customary law (Common Law) and laws passed by parliament is implicit, even in modern times, in the oath taken by British monarchs.
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