By Ned Donovan and Ian Gallagher For The Mail On Sunday

Title given to Commonwealth chief’s crony is ‘reviewed’ after she is accused of abusing the system
MoS investigation revealed Baroness Scotland is entangled in honours row
‘Dear friends’ with Anthony Bailey who is abusing his Antiguan knighthood
Bailey received knighthood after a £1.1m investment in school programmes
But despite it being granted by Antigua, he insists on being called Sir in UK

The Palace ordered him to stop giving impression of being a British knight
MP said Baroness must ‘take responsibility for any role she had’ in the row

The new political head of the Commonwealth, Baroness Scotland, has become entangled in an extraordinary row over abuse of the honours system.
A Mail on Sunday investigation has discovered that the former Labour Cabinet Minister was involved in Anthony Bailey obtaining an honour from Antigua, which he is now abusing to masquerade as a knight in the UK.
Baroness Scotland and Bailey, who has described her as a ‘dear friend’, collaborated on the charitable work that earned him the honour, an Antiguan knighthood.
But he has insisted on being called ‘Sir’ in the UK, flouting convention and angering Buckingham Palace, which has ordered him to stop giving the impression of being a British knight.
Prince Charles and David Cameron are among those who have been effectively duped into wrongly referring to him as ‘Sir Anthony’.
Following The Mail on Sunday’s investigation, he now faces the ignominious prospect of having his knighthood withdrawn by Antigua.
Two of his associates, who received their knighthoods at the same time, have had their honours revoked pending an investigation.
Last night Baroness Scotland faced questions about her role in the affair. Bailey received the honour following a £1.1 million investment in schools and church programmes from a charity of which both he and the Baroness were senior members.

But she denied being ‘party to the granting of a knighthood to Anthony Bailey or anyone else, and has no opinion on how private individuals comport themselves’.
Tory MP Stuart Andrew said Baroness Scotland ‘appears to have been particularly brazen in her actions’ and said the peer’s involvement placed a question mark against her judgment. ‘Baroness Scotland needs to take responsibility for any role she had in this business,’ he said.
‘If Anthony Bailey is continuing to use this title in the UK it’s disrespectful in the extreme to people who have knighthoods who absolutely deserve them. It makes a mockery of the honours system.’
This business has caused considerable anger at the Palace and Foreign Office. This man is passing himself off as a knight in Britain and won’t listen to advice to stop.
Government Minister
A Government Minister said last night: ‘This business has caused considerable anger at the Palace and Foreign Office. This man is passing himself off as a knight in Britain and won’t listen to advice to stop.’
But Bailey – who has strong links to foreign governments, as well as the Saudi royal family and the Vatican – has ignored all warnings about the misuse of his award. In response he launched an astonishing attack on the Foreign Office and Royal Household, accusing them of conducting a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign.
Tory Andrew Rosindell has also become embroiled in the saga, as the Romford MP asked no fewer than seven Commons questions about Commonwealth honours in just over a month, at the height of Bailey’s dispute with the Royal Household. He said last night: ‘While I have received representations from an array of individuals, including Anthony Bailey, regarding the issue of the recognition of knighthoods, I would like to stress that my only interest in this matter is over the principles involved and is not personalised to an individual in any way.’
Baroness Scotland previously hit headlines in 2009, when she was Attorney-General. It was then revealed that she employed an illegal immigrant from Tonga on a paltry wage of £6 an hour. She was prosecuted for breaking immigration laws that she had helped draft, and fined £5,000.
She took up her position of Commonwealth Secretary-General, a position which comes with an £160,000 salary and a grace-and-favour Mayfair home, last month.
The peer previously had Antigua’s support to take the job, but it was withdrawn following a change of government on the island. Bailey and his friends were knighted in November 2014 by Antigua’s Governor General Sir Rodney Williams – who is married to Baroness Scotland’s cousin.
Sources close to Bailey said last night that he is entitled to use the title ‘Sir’ which features on his passport, and said the Foreign Office had never tried to stop him. A question on this topic was one of those asked by MP Mr Rosindell.
But last night the Foreign Office insisted that Bailey was not entitled to use the title ‘Sir’ in the UK. A spokesman said: ‘The convention that British recipients of knighthoods from other countries cannot use the title “Sir” in the UK dates back to 1813. There has been no change to the convention since then and it applies to everyone.’
The convention that British recipients of knighthoods from other countries cannot use the title “Sir” in the UK dates back to 1813. There has been no change to the convention since then and it applies to everyone.
Foreign Office spokesman
Baroness Scotland declined to say last night whether she was aware Bailey was intending to use the title in the UK, or if she thought it appropriate. A spokesman added that she did not petition for his honour, saying: ‘No argument was made on behalf or Anthony Bailey, nor was she involved in the process in any other way.’
Antigua’s Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, confirmed that the knighthood awarded to Bailey – who once raised funds for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown – is now under ‘review’.
He said that when his party came to power in June 2014, one of its first acts was to switch its support for the Commonwealth Secretary-General job from Baroness Scotland to Sir Ronald Sanders, a senior Antiguan diplomat.
Two of Bailey’s wealthy friends who were knighted with him in Antigua have already had their honours revoked pending an investigation.
All three knighthoods had been arranged prior to Browne’s election. ‘By the time we came to office, this was a fait accompli and we honoured the arrangements without any knowledge of the prior discussions,’ the Antiguan Prime Minister said.
One of the other men is Nadmi Auchi, who was convicted of fraud and bribery over the Elf Aquitaine corruption scandal in 2003. The other is Bulgarian businessman Spas Roussev. Mr Roussev’s spokesman said he was ‘approached and offered an Antiguan honour in exchange for supporting local charitable projects’. However, Mr Roussev had ‘questions about the arrangement from the start’.
The spokesman added: ‘It became clear that all was not well, the process involved was irregular and not as originally described. Mr Roussev therefore withheld all payments and asked to return the honour, but this was refused. He has been pursued for payment ever since.’
All three men who were knighted were, along with Baroness Scotland, part of a delegation from an ancient Catholic order, The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, which was revived ten years ago by Bailey, who also styles himself ‘His Excellency’. The peer and Bailey flew to Antigua for his investiture as part of a delegation from the order.
On the organisation’s website, the Baroness takes personal responsibility for introducing the order to Antigua. After the 2014 trip to the island, she issued a statement saying she was ‘truly delighted’ with the visit which had only come after her ‘pleas’ to Bailey and the other leaders of the order.
Last Monday, the Order of St George and Bailey hosted a dinner in Draper’s Hall in London for the president of Hungary. Tory MP Oliver Letwin read out a letter from David Cameron, which referred to ‘Sir Anthony Bailey’.
A high-level government source told The Mail on Sunday that this title was added in by Bailey during the dinner, making it seem like the Prime Minister recognised the title, in contravention of the wishes of the Foreign Office. In the official registers the next day, the event is listed as being hosted by ‘Sir Anthony Bailey.’
Earlier this year, Bailey posted on his Facebook page an invitation from the Duchess of Cornwall to a charity event at St James’s Palace. Again, he was referred to as ‘Sir Anthony’. He lists no fewer than 35 honours and awards on his personal website – including the ‘First Class Grade of the Syrian Order of Outstanding Merit’ from President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
In 2007, the 46-year-old married Austrian princess Marie-Therese von Hohenberg, the great-granddaughter of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination led to the outbreak of the First World War. The couple have a six-year-old son. At the wedding, Bailey is said to have worn his full papal knight uniform, which he was awarded in 2009, complete with ceremonial sword.
The social climber came from relatively modest beginnings. The son of an engineer, he attended a Catholic comprehensive school in Ickenham, Middlesex, before studying at University College London.
He went on to work for global PR firm Burson-Marsteller, before setting up his own companies advising states and private bodies including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Yemen and Bahrain, weapons manufacturer BAE Systems, and oil company Shell. He is reportedly able to charge clients £500 an hour.
‘I do the job of a diplomat with the usual embassy, government and royal access, but I charge commercial rates,’ he once told a journalist. The interviewer wrote: ‘Anthony Bailey’s connections make Peter Mandelson look like a Welsh hermit.’
Mr Bailey was a key fundraiser for Mr Blair and is credited with raising £8 million for his flagship city academies project. However, in 2005, Bailey’s £500,000 donation to the Labour Party was rejected over fears that he was acting on behalf of foreign businessmen. He subsequently received a letter of apology from Labour’s then chairman, Hazel Blears, saying it should not have happened. A year later he had a £50,600 donation to the party accepted. In 2007 he made a £10,000 donation to Ms Blears and in 2010, he also made a £50,000 donation to David Miliband for his failed leadership campaign.
A spokesman for Baroness Scotland – who is no longer active in the Constantinian Order – said: ‘Patricia Scotland has been a member of the order for over a decade and had a long-standing hope that the order’s good charitable works could be extended to the Caribbean, which pre-dated any consideration of being Commonwealth Secretary-General
‘She was asked to join the visit of the order to the Caribbean to mark the start of their work there and was happy to do so. She did not identify nor select those who received the institutional honours. Patricia Scotland had not met, and did not know, Mr Auchi and Mr Roussev prior to attending the ceremony.
‘She did not make any introductions on their behalf nor has she ever advocated for them in any way. If their honours are now being questioned then due process should be followed. As Commonwealth Secretary-General, she has no say in how sovereign member states resolve these matters and will not comment on them.
‘Patricia Scotland has not been and is not now a “close ally” of any particular administration in the Caribbean, current or former. At the time of her appointment as Secretary-General, the government of Antigua was actively supporting a different candidate for the job, so that point is moot.
‘Patricia Scotland was not party to the granting of an institutional knighthood to Anthony Bailey for his role with the Constantinian Order, or anyone else, and has no opinion on how private individuals comport themselves.’
IMAGES:
Honour: Baroness Scotland is received by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace on her appointment as Commonwealth Secretary-General. She had become entangled in an honours row over Anthony Bailey
Upset: Bailey received the honour following a £1.1 million investment in schools and church programmes from a charity of which both he and the Baroness (pictured with the Queen) were senior members
Row: Anthony Bailey obtained an honour from Antigua, which he is now abusing to masquerade as a knight in the UK. Pictured, Bailey receiving the knighthood at Government House in Antigua in November 2014
Anthony Bailey and associates knighted in Antigua in 2014
Anger: Bailey is flouting convention and angering Buckingham Palace (pictured), which has ordered him to stop giving the impression of being a British knight
Royal: Two of Bailey’s wealthy friends who were knighted with him in Antigua have already had their honours revoked pending an investigation. Pictured, the royal family gathered for the Trooping the Colour parade
Anthony Bailey (pictured in Notting Hill, London) lists no fewer than 35 honours and awards on his personal website

For more on this story and video go to: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3614462/Queen-s-envoy-honours-scandal-Title-given-Commonwealth-chief-s-crony-reviewed-amid-Palace-fury.html#ixzz4A96y5SgL