NL-NWO 1999 Problem 3

Let $ABCD$ be a square and let $\ell$ be a line. Let $M$ be the centre of the square. The diagonals of the square have length 2 and the distance from $M$ to $\ell$ exceeds 1. Let $A',B',C',D'$ be the orthogonal projections of $A,B,C,D$ onto $\ell$ . Suppose that one rotates the square, such that $M$ is invariant. The positions of $A,B,C,D,A',B',C',D'$ change. Prove that the value of $AA'^2 + BB'^2 + CC'^2 + DD'^2$ does not change.