Anthony Bailey

(The House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies has controlled no territory since the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was suppressed in 1860. Since 1960 the headship of the House has been disputed.) In 2009 Bailey was appointed "magistral delegate" of the Delegation, and the organisation has awarded him other honours.

Bailey has never been an officer or member of the long-established version of the Order, which is under the authority of Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria, the "Hispano-Neapolitan branch" claimant to the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

The longstanding version of the Order has no connection with Bailey, nor with his business activities, nor with the order of which he is described as "delegate".

Guy Stair Sainty, vice-grand chancellor of the Order.

As reported in http://antiguaobserver.com/catholic-order-disowns-honours-awards-to-caribbean-leaders/ Antigua Observer.

Anthony John James Bailey (born 13 January 1970) is a British public relations consultant.

The son of an Irish mother, Veronica, and an English father, Colin, Bailey was born in London on 13 January 1970 and brought up in Ruislip, attending The Douay Martyrs School, then University College London.

His father was an engineer and instructor at FÁS, an Irish state body responsible for training the unemployed.

Before entering public relations, Bailey sold men's suits and worked in a pizza restaurant.

In the 1990s, Bailey "revived" the so-called "Delegation for Great Britain and Ireland of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George", under the authority of Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, who is the "Franco-Neapolitan branch" claimant to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

Bailey was a senior account director for communications firm Burson-Marsteller, which he joined in 1993, chairman of his own company Eligo International (incorporated in 1998), then chairman of Anthony Bailey Ltd, a public relations company incorporated in 2014.

He was a supporter of the Conservative Party until 1999 from which time he aligned himself with the Labour Party.

Bailey was appointed in 1999 as executive chairman of the Saudi organization "Painting & Patronage".

Bailey was active in UK political circles in the early 2000s, and has also had roles with various charities and Catholic organisations.

In 2005, it emerged that a £500,000 donation Bailey had made to the Labour Party had been rejected by its chief fundraiser, Lord Levy, who allegedly feared the money had come from foreign businessmen.

Bailey insisted the money was his own and issued legal proceedings.

He later said: "The Labour party has apologised unreservedly for any distress that the affair caused".

A subsequent donation of £50,000 was accepted.

In 2006, Bailey assisted with the first British royal marriage to take place at the Vatican since the Reformation.

Described as the couple's friend, spokesman and wedding planner, he supported the Catholic wedding of Lord Nicholas Windsor, son of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, to British-born Croatian aristocrat Princess Paola Doimi de Lupis Frankopan Šubić Zrinski.

The couple had an audience with Pope Benedict XVI at the Apostolic Palace before a small ceremony.

In 2007 The Observer referred to Bailey as a "PR guru who is one of the most influential men you have never heard of" and "a key player in the world of Catholic and Middle East politics."

He has received various honours, including an Order of the British Empire (OBE) awarded in the 2008 Birthday Honours.

However, he has also been stripped of various honours, including the OBE, which was revoked in 2023 after a London High Court judge sentenced him to prison for contempt of court in a 2022 divorce settlement hearing.

He was, from December 2009 to July 2016, a director of St Mary's University.

Bailey's descriptions of his own occupation have included "Public Relations Consultant" (2010), "Royal And Diplomatic Consultant" (2011), and "Head R. Order of Knighthood" (2004).

Bailey was co-president of the think-tank British Influence and a supporter of Britain's membership of both the European Union and the Commonwealth.

He made a substantial donation to the failed leadership campaign of David Miliband in 2010.

(The UK company "Painting and Patronage" was dissolved in 2014. ) From December 2005 to November 2013, Bailey was a director of the United Learning Trust.

Eligo International was dissolved in January 2016 with their final accounts showing funds of -£85,000.

Anthony Bailey Ltd did not trade until 2016, and in accounts posted that year showed liabilities of more than £40,000.

24 August 2016.

"The Order purportedly revived in the UK by Bailey is described on its website as the "Delegation for Great Britain and Ireland"; however, in a follow-up email, Guy Stair Sainty, vice-grand chancellor of the Order, said it has no connection with Bailey, his business activities or the order of which he is described as "delegate". Sainty explained that the Constantinian Order concentrates primarily on its Catholic mission and never "exchanges" its membership with anyone for any reason since this would be contrary to the statutes and character of the Order as a Catholic, chivalric, confraternal institution.

"Neither are we interested in expensive entertainments nor in constant publicity, which is why we have not issued any public statement until now, when the good name of our Order has repeatedly been the subject of so much critical commentary", he added.

Sainty went on to note that the grant of awards for “'interfaith' services or whatever" to the likes of President Assad of Syria and former President Saleh of Yemen and various state officials in other countries, including the Caribbean, has no worth.

"The self-evident conflict of interest between Mr Bailey’s role as a businessman apparently acting on behalf of states for fees, yet exchanging decorations of this controversial Constantinian Order … and then claiming awards in return would appear to be entirely contrary to the spirit of this ancient Catholic institution", he said."

Its most recent accounts from 2018 showed it had built up losses of more than £220,000.

Anthony Bailey Ltd was dissolved by order of Companies House in October 2020.

In December 2020, Bailey resigned from all the roles he held in his branch of the Constantinian Order, citing its impact on his "physical and mental health", though his personal website still lists him as a "campaigner" for the order.

There has been no announcement of a successor, although the order's website continues to be maintained.