Legally, Norway had the status of an independent constitutional monarchy, with more internal independence than it had enjoyed in over 400 years. While it shared a common monarch and a common foreign policy with Sweden, all other ministries and government institutions were separate from each state. Norway had its own army, navy and treasury. The foreign service was directly subordinate to the king, an arrangement that was embodied already in the Norwegian constitution of 17 May 1814, before the revision of 4 November. An unforeseen effect was that foreign policy was decided in the Swedish cabinet and conducted by the Swedish ministry of foreign affairs. When matters of foreign policy were discussed in cabinet meetings, the only Norwegian present who could plead Norway's case was the prime minister. The Swedish Riksdag could indirectly influence foreign policy, but not the Norwegian Storting. Because the representations abroad were appointed by the Swedish government and mostly staffed with Swedes, the Union was often seen by foreigners as functioning like a single state rather than two sovereign states. Over time, however, it became less common to refer to the union as "Sweden" and instead to jointly reference it as "Sweden and Norway".