The Sovereign Grand Prince

1. 1.    The full title of the sovereign Head of State of the Order is the “Grand Prince”. The Head of State is a “Prince” under protocols of royalty and nobility by blood right Succession from a royal line of Carolingian, Merovingian, Ottonian, Yngling, Capetian, Anjou, Plantagenet, Burgundy, Rurik, Hohenstaufen, Munsöätten, Cometopuli, Wessex, Visigoths, Astur-Leonese, Uí Néill, Alpínid and Iñiguez under canonical protocols by Ecclesiastical Succession, and also by princely status inherent in the sovereignty of the Order as a Kingdom of statehood. The Head of State is also a “Grand Master” under protocols of chivalry as the highest position within the Order. The alternatives of “Sovereign Grand Master” or “Sovereign Head of State” may also be used. The traditional short form, embodying all of these titles, is otherwise simply “Grand Master”. The proper courtesy style of address, exclusive to the Grand Master, is the title “Most Eminent Highness” (“M.E.H.”).

• a)    Full rights of fons honorum, which meant according to the law ancient nobility, Grand Prince of Kingdom has the power to nobilitate, to grant and confirm coats of arms and to award predicates, taken from places in which his ancestors in fact had exercised sovereign powers, not to mention his right to constitute, resuscitate, reform and exercise the ‘Grand Magistry’ of the chivalric Orders of the dynasty, which are passed from father to son as an insupprimable heredity of birth.

• b)    Legitimate power to grant honours,Fons honorum of the Grand Prince, legitimate possessor of this faculty, which according to the blood right royal, expression of the honorific power of his house, which had been conserved by family tradition and had not suffered ‘debellatio’, the forced surrender of power. He has therefore entitled to grant the honours given by him, because the ancient bulgaria church and by the tradition of royal blood consider that he has the legitimate power to grant these honours and titles royals.

• c)    The fons honorum for issuing titles, honours and decorations of royals houses and religious organizations is protected by the religious freedom and the liberty to manifest this freedom by symbols. In addition, the freedom of association ensures that every individual is free to organise and to form and participate in (religious) groups, either formally or informally. Both freedoms are embedded in national and international law. They include the freedom to grant titles and awards, issued in the context of religious customs, symbols and honorifics.

• d)    Religious ceremonies where titles and awards are issued have meaning and sacred value for the believers if they have been conducted by religious authorities empowered for that purpose in compliance with pre-specified rules. The personality of the religious leaders is undoubtedly of importance to every member of the community. Participation in the life of the community is thus a particular manifestation of one’s religion, which is in itself protected by Article 9 of the Convention (Hasan and Chaush v. Bulgaria [GC], no. 30985/96, and Perry v. Latvia, no. 30273/03, § 55, 8 November 2007).

1. 2.    The Grand Prince holds Fons Honorum and Jus Honorum authority which constitutes the right to grant dynastic, sovereign and ecclesiastical Titles of Nobility, Chivalry, Office or Government of the Order, and to establish and grant Orders of Honour. This right is protected as a rule under historical and customary international law.

1. 3.    The Grand Prince possesses the right to give Magistral Assent to all official actions, the right to make Magistral Proclamations compelling any official actions, and the right of veto power over any official decisions. In the sphere of sovereign jurisprudence, those rights include the powers of pardon and clemency. In the sphere of diplomacy, they include the right to personally ratify all treaties with other nations.

1. 4.    The Grand Prince possesses the inalienable right to general governance over all sovereign, geopolitical, political, juridical and civil affairs of the Kingdom and its Subjects.

1. 5.    The Grand Prince has only one obligation, to conduct all Magistral acts and courses of general governance upon the advice and consultation of the Grand Mastery.

1. 6.    Election of the Grand Master – The position of Grand Master is held for life.  Upon a vacancy of the Grand Master position, the Grand Commander shall immediately stand in to exercise full authority of that role, serving as Acting Grand Master until such time as election of the successor can be arranged. The Grand Mastery consisting of all Grand Officers shall serve as the council of electors. The Grand Master shall be the qualified Candidate who has the most votes, and whose election is finally ratified by the simple majority (more than 50%) of the Grand Officers.

1. 7.    Candidates for Grand Master – Candidates for election as successor to the Grand Master shall be nominated by the Grand Officers. Candidates must be a professed Knight or Dame of the Order, who has taken the Vow of Chivalry and sworn to live by the Old Temple Rule and the Templar Code. Candidates must be qualified by a strong character fearless of adversity, a determination to uphold and preserve traditional principles, a passion for Justice, an unshakeable spiritual Faith, and academic skills to effectively navigate and apply historical and legal facts and theological doctrines.

8. Priority of Candidates – Priority of favourable consideration shall be given to qualified Candidates, in order of precedence, as follows: (a) any person nominated by the former Grand Master in a written instrument previously delivered to the Grand Mastery; (b) one who has served as a Grand Officer of the Order; (c) one who has sufficient seniority and demonstrated achievement as a Knight or Dame and Crown Officer of the Order; (d) one who has active leadership experience in a legitimate historical Order of Chivalry or Royal House.

1. 8.    Deferred Succession – In the event that a nominated Candidate is preferred by the majority of votes, but is not yet sufficiently available to fully assume the responsibilities of Grand Master, and such Candidate wishes to postpone but not decline succession, then the election may be completed, while active succession may be deferred. In such event, the Grand Commander shall serve as Acting Grand Master, in co-regency together with the elected Grand Master, until such time as succession may be completed.

2. 9.    According to pacific international jurisprudence, the “Fons Honorum” or “fountains of honor” are the persons and/or entities that hold the exclusive prerogative of bestowing titles of nobility and honors legally as subjects of international law. These persons by origin, or ministry, must possess the attributes that constitute the sovereignty. They are:

• a)    Heads of State (both monarchists or republican – although the republicans cannot confer “nobility titles”, only meritorious awards);

• b)    Heads of Dynasties (deposed monarchies) since it’s internationally accepted that they preserve the “Jus Conferendi” even being dispossessed of their thrones;

• c)    Heads of Traditional Christian Churches (both Roman Catholic and Orthodox) following authentic apostolic succession. In other words, the Head of the church should prove direct lineage of ordination from one of the original apostles.

• d)    It’s widely known that there are no limitations to a Sovereign (reigning or deposed) in conferring titles and honors. They’re allowed to create and restore Orders of Merit and Chivalry, create and restore titles of Nobility, bestow and revoke as it pleases them. The deposed sovereigns fully govern their Houses and Dynasties, and so, there’s no political pressure or interference with the Dynastic prerogatives.

• e)    As previously said, when a Monarch is dispossessed, he or she remains Sovereign, and hence, never loses the Royal prerogatives of: “Jus Majestatis” which is the right of being called and respected by the titles and the “Jus Honorum“, the right to bestow titles and honors.

• f)    Ceasing territorial power, the monarch loses effective control of (“Jus Imperii” – the right to govern a State and people and “Jus Gladii” the right to command an army), retaining, however, the dynastic prerogatives (“Jus Majestatis” and “Jus Honorum”), which, as already stated, are intrinsic to his/her person. Assuming, then, the title of ‘Chief of the Name and Arms of the Royal House’ of his country. While this condition is recognized by the international tradition, like “pretender” to the vacant throne of his country, and among his dynastic power, are to judge the claims around titles of nobility in his jurisdiction, recognize them, validate them, as well as create and bestow new titles in his sole discretion

• g)    Chief of Name and Arms“, a title attributed to a Claimant, being by juris sanguinis (law of blood) “heir apparent” of a defunct throne, as long as he has not formalized a voluntary act of resignation and acquiescence [formalized, not assumed or presumed] to the new political order of the state, according to the classic expression “subito la debellatio”, retains, in all its fullness, the sovereign prerogatives of Fons Honorum (Fountain of Honors) and Jus Majestatis (right to majestic dignity). It is a fortiori, the source of nobility and honor, and may, without restrictions create nobles and arm knights.

• h)    The issue is that of innate nobility – “Jure Sanguinis” (right of blood) – which looks into the prerogatives known as “Jus Majestatis” and “Jus Honorum” and which argues that the holder of such prerogatives is a subject of international law with all the logical consequences of that situation. That is to say, a deposed sovereign may legitimately confer titles of nobility, with or without predicates, and the honorifics which pertain to his heraldic patrimony as head of his dynasty. The qualities which render a deposed Sovereign a subject of international law are undeniable and in fact constitute an absolute personal right of which the subject may never divest himself and which needs no ratification or recognition on the part of any other authority whatsoever. A reigning Sovereign or Head of State may use the term recognition in order to demonstrate the existence of such a right, but the term would be a mere declaration and not a constitutive act.” (Furno, op.cit.)

• i)    Dynastic orders are the exclusive domain of a sovereign, remain as such even if the monarch goes into exile, and are thus transmissible to the legitimate successor and head of the family. Generally, even if a sovereign abdicates of his/her own free will, unless he/she does so explicitly, he/she does not renounce the grand mastership of those dynastic orders belonging to his/her family. If the sovereign should renounce his/her status as Fons Honorum, this cannot involve any of his/her heirs that hold the right of inheritance, unless the renunciation took place prior to the sovereign’s marriage, and thus the birth of any heirs. A sovereign (or head of a royal house) in exile, and his/her legitimate successor, continue to enjoy the ius collationis, or “the right to confer honours,” and therefore may bestow honours in full legitimacy. No authority can deprive them of the right to confer honours, since this prerogative belongs to them as a lawful personal property iure sanguinis (by right of blood).