King Charles strips ex-husband of princess and PR smoothie Anthony Bailey of his OBE – as he claims an acrimonious divorce has left him ‘lost everything he ever had’
He was the ultimate Mr Fixit, who bought a £6million mansion in South West London and a £4million villa in Portugal, knew everyone from popes to prime ministers, and married a princess – after first receiving a handwritten congratulations note. received from his friend Tony Blair.
Not bad for a boy from the metropolitan suburb of Ruislip who once sold menswear.
But its glory days may be only a dim memory for PR smoothie and Labor donor Anthony Bailey, who, I can tell, was stripped of his OBE by King Charles this week. The award was presented to him in 2008 by the late Queen for ‘services to interfaith relations and charity’.
It’s hard to think of anything that could be more painful for Bailey, 53.
In his splendor, he handed over several members of the royal family, including the then Prince of Wales, and even facilitated the wedding of the Duke of Kent’s youngest son, Lord Nicholas Windsor, at the Vatican – the first time a British Royal Family did. married there for 400 years.
PR smoothie and Labor donor Anthony Bailey (pictured in 2016) was stripped of his OBE by King Charles this week. The award was presented to him in 2008 by the late Queen for “services to interfaith relations and charity”
In its splendor, it handed over several members of the royal family, including the then Prince of Wales. Bailey is pictured with then-Prince Charles in 2001 while visiting Saudi Arabia
But last year, Judge Peel imposed a 12-month prison sentence on Bailey after finding him in contempt of court for violating a divorce agreement with his ex-wife, Princess Marie-Thérèse von Hohenberg. The former couple is pictured together on their wedding day in 2007
But last year, Judge Peel imposed a 12-month prison sentence on Bailey after finding him in contempt of court for violating a divorce agreement with his ex-wife, Princess Marie-Thérèse von Hohenberg, a great-granddaughter of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination in 1914 sparked World War I.
Six hundred guests attended the couple’s 2007 wedding in Austria. But twelve years later, Marie-Thérèse initiated divorce proceedings, which culminated in last year’s Supreme Court drama – in which Bailey resided in Portugal.
The judge ruled that he had “obstructed the court in almost every possible way” and had “deliberately left the country,” noting that there were “major question marks” about his conduct.
Bailey remains in Portugal, from where he tells me he was ‘not advised’ of the loss of his OBE ‘or that any such process was even underway’.
He adds that because of the ‘bitter’ divorce proceedings I ‘lost everything I ever had in Britain, from my home, my job and even access to my beloved son.
“This latest news will undoubtedly bring great joy to my ex-wife. It is yet another illustration of what is fundamentally wrong with Britain’s deeply flawed divorce process and why its review is long overdue.”