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James Debono
Former Nationalist MP Alfred Baldacchino, who shocked the country in the 1970s when he crossed the floor to join Labour, has moved on since his political eclipse: his new name is now His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Alfred Josef Baldacchino, Head of the Name and Arms of the Rjurik dynasty and Prince of Gagry, Marquis of Casal Grimaldo and hereditary sovereign prince Grand Master of the Ordo Byzantinus Sancti Sepulchri.
But that is only if he manages to fend off accusations by another pretender to the throne: former Nationalist Party candidate “Count” Carmel Sandro Calleja, who is disputing Baldacchino’s claim of dynastic succession.
The two faux nobles are presently engaged in a legal battle over the titles after Judge Geoffrey Valenzia upheld a request by Baldacchino to issue a prohibitory injunction against Calleja, banning him from holding an investiture ceremony on 19 March, or any other ceremony in the future.
Calleja has however told MaltaToday the ceremony has taken place already: “a religious ceremony which cannot be stopped by court,” Calleja said.
Calleja was expelled from the order in 2001 when he challenged Baldacchino’s right to claim dynastic succession and change the order’s statute.
Baldacchino is the first Maltese to assume an imperial title by being adopted by a Russian Grand Duke claiming lineage to a Russian dynasty which ruled Russia up to the 1600s.
Both him and Calleja are saying they have been following the instructions of the late Grand Duke Dimitrij X Dimitrevic, the last dynastic Grand Master of the Russian order.
Baldacchino claims he was appointed Grand Master “ad vitam” by Dimitrevic, in the absence of direct heirs, in December 1986. He said he was proclaimed the Grand Duke’s “adopted son” and dynastic successor in October 1989, endorsed unanimously by the order’s Magistral Council.
Calleja however claims he was appointed Regent until the Grand Duke’s successor by blood assumed his rights over the order. Holding a letter proving his appointment, Baldacchino says it is a fake.
Calleja had nominated Baldacchino for Grand Master back in 1986 but insists the title does not give him any right claim dynastic succession or change the order’s statute, since he is only fulfilling the role of “authorised Grand Master.” Calleja is also claiming Baldacchino has abused of his position by trying to usurp dynastic succession.
“Only the dynastic Grand Duke has the right to expel someone from the order,” Calleja has told MaltaToday.
Calleja said that after the Grand Duke’s death, as Vicar of the order he was fulfilling his role by assuming the order’s day-to-day running until a direct heir from the Rjurik family is found.
“By claiming that he is the adopted son of the Grand Duke, Baldacchino is also indirectly making a claim to the Russian throne. This would have meant the beginning of a new Baldacchino dynasty,” Calleja said.
Baldacchino denies having any imperial ambitions: “I only have the order’s charitable work at heart,” he told the newspaper.
The Rjurik dynasty is named after a Swede who gained control of Novgorod in 862. His successors however, moved the capital to Kiev and founded the state of Kievan Rus, until it was sacked in 1240 by Genghis Khan.
Official history books say the Rjurik dynasty became extinct with the death of the imbecile tsar Feodor I. After Feodor’s death, an unstable period known as the Time of Troubles ensued, and lasted until 1613. That year, Mikhail I took the throne, founding the Romanov Dynasty that would last for three centuries until the monarchy was abolished in 1917.
But the rivalry between the two has left the order in a state of disarray: on the internet, a website claims Calleja was awarded the Grand Collar of the Order by the late Grand Duke. Another shows Baldacchino wearing the same collar.
Defiantly, Calleja says the order will still conduct ceremonies in November and December. He says a 1991 sentence from the Court of Appeal disputes the competence of Maltese law over chivalric orders.
Baldacchino is adamant in defending his role as Grand Master, claiming his order is recognised by the Italian authorities: “the role of the Maltese headquarters is that of coordinating the charitable work of the various priories.”
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
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