About the Sovereign Princely and Grand Ducal House of Bailey
Successor to the Grand Master of the orders His Beatitude +Symeon
His Beatitude +SYMEON Ioannovskij (Steven Mark Holdridge) (1953-2016), (pictured with HRH Douglas Buchanan Bailey) was the Metropolitan and First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church in America / 10th Patriarch of the Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church of North America; an autocephalous (self-governing) Eastern Orthodox Church founded first under the authority of the Patriarch of Moscow, Saint Tikhon, and later receiving its charter in the United States in 1927.
In observance of the filial and canonical relationship with the patriarchate of Moscow and all Russia, His Beatitude +Symeon was also the sovereign grand master of The Order of St Andrew First-Called in the Americas, the Order of the Green Cross, and The Knights of the True Cross. Before his passing in 2016, His Beatitude named Douglas Buchanan Bailey as his successor grand master to the orders and anointed him as His Royal Highness, The Grand Duke of Saint Cyriacus.
Of particular note, a line of His Beautitude +SYMEON's apostolic succession came through a prince-abbot that had been granted land and territory to establish an abbey principality in the Ugandan Kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara by the Omukama (King) Chwa II Kabalega in 1885, nine years before the British colonization of Uganda.
Grant & Appointment from HM The Omukama (King) Solomon Iguru I
Subsequently, His Majesty The Omukama (King) Solomon Iguru I (the grandson of King Chwa II Kabalega), King of the constitutionally restored constituent Kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara of the Republic of Uganda, by virtue of his authority and prerogatives as fons honorum (font of honour), conferred in an armorial grant to Douglas Buchanan Bailey the armorial bearings (coat of arms) distinguishing the style and title of His Royal Highness, The Grand Duke, his succession as the sovereign grand master of the orders, the formation of The Bailey Fencibles, and other related effects. The grant is recorded in Volume 1, Page 2 of the Heraldry Society of Africa. Douglas Buchanan Bailey also holds the rank of a full General in the Omukama's Royal Honour Guard Abroad.
HM The Omukama (King) of Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom and the Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom were restored by the Amendment [No. 8] Act - Statute No. 8, Article 118 (1)- of 1993 enacted by the Parliament of Uganda and officially recognized and protected by the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda by Chapter IV. –Article 37.-, Chapter XVI. -Article 246. (1) – (6)- of 1995 and by the Amendment [No. 2] Act -schedule V. -Article 178.8- of 2005 and by the Acts Supplement [No. 4] -Act 6. of 2011
Official Standing
On 15 November 2018, a formal articles of recognition document [No. 005/2018] was issued to the Sovereign Princely and Grand Ducal House of Bailey by The Royal Office of Orders, Honors, and Awards Affairs of His Majesty The Omukama (King) Solomon Iguru I of the Ugandan Kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara.
- Article 3 Provides full recognition and cooperation with "The Sovereign Princely and Grand Ducal House of Bailey by The Royal Family of Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom, the Kingdom Bunyoro-Kitara and the Royal Institutions itself."
- Article 4 Provides "full acceptance and recognition of the Titles of Nobility of The Sovereign Princely and Grand Ducal House of Bailey by The Royal Family of Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom, the Kingdom Bunyoro-Kitara and the Royal Institutions itself."
- Article 5 Provides "Granting and approval of The Orders of The Sovereign Princely and Grand Ducal House of Bailey by The Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom", to include: regalia, emblems and uniforms, etc., and the wearing approval at official events in the presence of HM The Omukama, the Royal Family of Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom and members of the Babiito Dynasty.
This formal articles of recognition document, under the royal prerogatives of HM The Omukama, are in accordance with statute No. 8, Article 118 (1)- of 1993 enacted by the Parliament of Uganda and officially recognized and protected by the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda by Chapter IV. –Article 37.-, Chapter XVI. -Article 246. (1) – (6)- of 1995 and by the Amendment [No. 2] Act -schedule V. -Article 178.8- of 2005 and by the Acts Supplement [No. 4] -Act 6. of 2011
