Aristo Prats

 Well, our friend The Chief Herald of Arms of Malta is in the news once again with reports of his strange acceptance of dubious titles being in Private Eye  being repeated in the Blog of Loving Malta dot com.

Quote "Whether it’s passports or public assets, Malta’s government has a knack for controversial sales. But now, it’s the decision to sell dubious titles and arms to noble pretenders that has raised eyebrows in the UK. 

Private Eye, the iconic British publication, looked into Malta’s new sideline hustle, “title-laundering”, which sees the country grant heraldic titles and arms transforming “imaginary princes to ones recognised by an EU member state”."

If you click on the image you can see the full sized article.

Threats? Naaa.

 My reader, who has no doubt been closely following the Malta saga, will be pleased to learn that things are moving on apace. Prior to being able to place a formal accusation of Misconduct in Public Office against the Chief Herald of Arms of Malta before the Government Ombudsman, I had to go through several prior steps, the most important being to lay my complaint before his employer, Heritage Malta, to give them a chance to investigate. This I did however, Heritage Malta chose to take the same route they did when I first put it to them that the Office of Chief Herald had not been properly founded; they immediately went on the attack and defended their employee. History now shows that the advice they received from their advocate in that initial matter, advice that led them to set down their reasons for the legitimacy of the office, provided me with ample opportunity to forensically pull it apart and, ultimately, led to the Ombudsman finding against that advice and the eventual correct legislation being put in place.

I wrote to the Chief Executive of Heritage Malta putting a simplified case to him on the first of August and yesterday, 11th August, received a reply from Heritage Malta’s legal advisers. I briefly responded. It now appears that the Chief Herald has decided that he can print that letter in full on his website so I shall, with the greatest of pleasure, share with you my brief reply. Now that I have received the formal “Reply as to the legal legitimacy of the Chief Herald of Arms of Malta”. I now have the “official” defence and now have a document to forensically examine to provide further evidence to the Government Ombudsman. I shall be doing so shortly however, as I will be attending the Cambridge conference next week, please don’t expect my response to be prompt.

Here is the link to the “Reply as to the legal legitimacy of the Chief Herald of Arms of Malta”:

https://bit.ly/3QdtgkN

And here is the link to my brief response: https://bit.ly/3pbDQgr

I am particularly looking forward to forming an opinion on the lawyer’s comment that in regard to Coronets, supporters etc “the Government recognises only the totality of the Arms as belonging to an individual not any particular significance given by third parties to any specific components therein. As far as the government is concerned, one can display anything one likes in one’s coat of Arms …”

So, no significance in the coronet of a marquis and no significance in the coronet of a baron and yet, I have, just yesterday, declined an application from a Scottish baron who (did not have Scots arms) chose to receive a grant from Malta and was awarded, by the Chief Herald of Arms, supporters and the coronet of a baron. Apparently, there is no significance in this!

I shall be away at the Cambridge Conference next week but rest assured, I am really looking forward to drafting my complaint to the Ombudsman.

The Barons Brereton

 I have been informed by a friend of the Cheshire Heraldry website, Michael Furlong, that a French auction site is offering for sale a painting which appears to be the arms of the Barons Brereton.

Described as a "Coat Of Arms Painted On Parchment, Italy 17th Century". Coat of arms painted on parchment Italy 17th century. Gilt wood frame.

Coat Of Arms Painted On Parchment, Italy 17th Century. Price: 1500 €

Period: 17th century. Style: Louis 14th, Regency. Condition: Excellent condition. 

Material: Parchment: Width: 36 cm Height: 44.5 cm

Reference: 673578

A.J Antiquités

The 2nd and 3rd quarters appear to be "Or, three piles conjoined in base Gules"

I'm not sure where the Italian reference came from but many thanks to Michael for alerting me to it.

Has ICOC cocked it up? Apparently not!

 The Chief Herald of Arms of Malta has deleted from his website quite a few things of late which he clearly finds embarrassing. Given the reasons for his embarrassment and his many errors of judgement in regard to the acceptance of foreign and dubious hereditary honours, I am deeply concerned that the Maltese Heraldry website still features his CV which boasts the fact that "He is a Commissioner on the Board of the International Commission for Orders of Chivalry " . If ICOC is to retain any credibility at all, I suggest that it might be a good idea to review their acceptance criteria for Commissioners*. I strongly suggest that no one is more unsuitable for membership of ICOC than the present Chief Herald of Arms of Malta.

Screen shot taken from the official website of The Chief Herald of Arms of Malta 29/7/2022

For those who are not familiar with ICOC, The International Commission for Orders of Chivalry is a private association, based in Milan (Italy) composed of renowned scholars on chivalric matters and award systems. The main goal of the ICOC is to determine the legitimacy of the Orders of Chivalry by publishing the Register of Orders of Chivalry.

* At the time of writing this I can't find his name on the ICOC "Patrons and Members" web page. Has he been removed?

Addendum 8th August 2022:

I have been assured by Pier Felice degli Uberti, President of ICOC, that Dr Gauci is no longer a member (and presumably therefore ought not to be still claiming on the Malta Heraldry website that he is). Pier Felice degli Uberti has sent to me a document outlining the membership procedures and asked that I publish it as an addendum to this post: https://bit.ly/3QpIbb7  

The Chief Halfwit of Arms of Malta

 I notice that our entertaining friend, the Chief Halfwit of Arms of Malta, has now removed those webpages which have given us so much pleasure since he launched them such a short while ago; his entire armorial and that even more entertaining page referencing those “hereditary honours” he has recognised have now disappeared from public view. Someone obviously tipped him off that he was coming under a great deal of criticism on Facebook heraldry forums however, he now has one other self-created conundrum he will have to solve. He is required, by the very legislation which created his office, to make public all his grants and registrations, many of which have caused him to panic and delete the very pages he is required by legislation to publish. I look forward to seeing how he wriggles out of this one.

O'Sullivan and Malta

 The Chief Herald of Arms of Malta has just sent a round robin email to all who have expressed an interest in his activities alerting them to his "New Look Website" which has details of not only recent grants and registrations but also his registration of hereditary honours. 

I have a number of concerns and begin to wonder about the ability (or desire) of the Chief Herald of Malta to check the facts provided by applicants prior to making his grants or registrations. One in particular stood out, that of O'Sullivan recorded in the hereditary honours section: 

Image screen shot from the Maltese website 25/07/22

Name: Sullivan, Gary Brian Sullivan (a.k.a. Gary Brian O’Sullivan & Garraí Eoin Brian Ó Súilleabháin MhicRaith). Honour : O’Sullivan Mór,  Count of Knockgraffon, Prince of Munster (foreign titles).

A check on the grants/registrations page provided this image: 

Image screen shot from the Maltese website 25/07/22

Image screen shot from the Maltese website 25/07/22

A quick check in Burke's General Armory provided me with a blazon for the arms of O’Sullivan and O’Sullivan Mór and it came as no surprise that the arms granted/registered by the Chief Herald of Malta are different. 

A further check in MacLysaght's book "Irish Families, Their Names, Arms and Origins", confirms that the true blazon for the O’Sullivan Mór is that given by Burke and not the arms granted/registered by Dr Gauci (no supporters either). I then had a conversation with a friend in The Genealogical Society of Ireland (Irish: Cumann Geinealais na hÉireann) (a voluntary non-governmental organisation promoting the study of genealogy, heraldry, vexillology and social history in Ireland and amongst the Irish Diaspora) and we both came to the same conclusion.  

Image taken from MacLysaght's book "Irish Families, Their Names, Arms and Origins" 

We both felt that when faced with a petition for arms from a person claiming to be an Irish Chief and bearing the titles Count of Knockgraffon and Prince of Munster it would have been sensible to have contacted his counterpart in Ireland to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of such claims linked with the territory and jurisdiction of the Chief Herald of Ireland. Had he done so (it is actually quite unfathomable that a Chief Herald would not be aware of this), he would have been informed that the "courtesy recognition" of Irish Chiefs and Chieftains was discontinued by Chief Herald Brendan O'Donoghue in 2003 following "The MacCarthy Mor" scandal - see: Irish Chiefs: Contents (eircom.net)

The claims contained in the text recorded on the website of The Chief Herald of Arms of Malta are entirely unsupported by the Chief Heralds of Ireland and I doubt if Colette O'Flaherty (Chief Herald) would have agreed to their inclusion, if asked by the Chief Herald of Malta.

The inclusion of the "Prince of Munster" and the "Count of Knockgraffon" is laughable given the scandal mentioned above.  Ireland, just like Malta, is a Republic - in both jurisdictions no such titles of nobility can be recognised by the State under the Constitution.  

If the gentleman was genuinely entitled to the arms of O’Sullivan Mór then, regardless of the fact that The Chief Herald of Ireland would not be in a position to recognise his honours and titles, he ought nevertheless to be in a position to prove his right to the undifferenced arms of his ancestors. In eschewing the Irish Office of Arms and instead choosing to swim over to Malta, it would seem that the petitioner now has "official" recognition - for what it is worth!

I fear that The Chief Herald of Arms of Malta is allowing himself to be used. 

Congress 2022

I've just booked and paid for my accommodation at Clare College plus the full week with trip out and Congress Dinner. I'm really looking forward to it.