Rory Leonard

The Right Honourable Tan Sri Datuk Sri Rory Leonard
Arms of Rory Leonard
Deputy Prime Minister of Vishwamitra
In office 12 May 2022 – 30 July 2022
Monarch	Varuna Sriraya
Prime Minister	Farhaz Hazarika
Preceded by	Princess Anoushkaa Michal Nowacki
Succeeded by	Princess Sarala
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha
In office 2 June 2023 – 12 June 2023
Prime Minister	Farhaz Hazarika
Preceded by	Toyotomi-Kim Tatsumi
Prime Minister of Saspearian
In office 30 January 2021 – 30 June 2021
Monarchs	Anthony I
Succeeded by	Kasra
Prime Minister of Australis
In office 6 March 2021 – 15 August 2021
Monarch	Daniel I
Preceded by	Sir Abrams Wiucki-Dunswed
Succeeded by	Sir Tucker Gladden
Chair of the Grand Unified Micronational
Acting
In office 15 August 2022 – 6 September 2022
Deputy	Jack Dean
Preceded by	Anthony Barauskis
Succeeded by	Jonathan I
Vice-Chair of the Grand Unified Micronational
In office 1 July 2022 – 15 August 2022
Chair	Anthony Barauskis
Preceded by	Newton von Uberquie
Succeeded by	Jack Dean
Other positions in Vishwamitra Minister of Parliamentary Affairs In office 6 August 2021 – 21 October 2021 Minister of State (I/C) until 11 September 2021 Prime Minister Ștefan Marius Snagoveanu Farhaz Hazarika Preceded by Daniel Lee In office 22 November 2021 – 17 February 2022 Prime Minister Farhaz Hazarika Succeeded by Matthew Tonna Minister of External Affairs In office 22 November 2021 – 15 January 2022 Prime Minister Farhaz Hazarika Preceded by Patrick Kenny Succeeded by Michal Nowacki Minister of Defence In office 15 January 2022 – 17 March 2022 Prime Minister Farhaz Hazarika Preceded by Michal Nowacki In office 12 May 2022 – 30 July 2022 Prime Minister Farhaz Hazarika Succeeded by Matthew Tonna Minister of Finance In office 31 July 2022 – 11 November 2022 Prime Minister Farhaz Hazarika Preceded by Matthew Tonna Succeeded by Arsal Abbas Mirza Administrator of Swevalis Incumbent Assumed office 23 September 2021 Monarch Varuna Sriraya Prime Minister Farhaz Hazarika Deputy Rubi Leonard Chief Secretary to the Government In office 4 January 2023 – 20 May 2023 Prime Minister Farhaz Hazarika Preceded by Position established
Other micronational positions Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Baustralia In office 12 December 2022 – 11 May 2023 Prime Minister Sir Oliver Doig Succeeded by Kanyon Paradis
Personal details
Born	December 2007 (age 17) Australia
Military service
Allegiance	Baustralia
Branch/service	Baustralian Army
Years of service	2023–present 2020–2023
Rank	Vice admiral
Commands	Fourth Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy
Emperor of Lurdentaia
Reign	4 October 2020 –
Predecessor	Self, as King
Successor	Nation dissolved
King of Lurdentania
Reign	4 October 2018 – 4 October 2020
Successor	Self, as Emperor
King of Indradhanush
Reign	28 September – 18 November 2021
Predecessor	Chandrachur I
Successor	Chandrachur I
House	Leonard

Rory Leonard (born 2007) is an Australian micronationalist and politician who reigned as the first and only monarch of Lurdentania as Rory I between 2018 till the nation's dissolution in 2023. Apart from his role as the monarch of Lurdentania, he has also served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Vishwamitra and served as a minister holding several important portfolios in the nation. He has also served as the Prime Minister of Saspearian and as the Prime Minister of Australis in 2021.

In Grand Unified Micronational election, June 2022, he was the running mate of Anthony Barauskis who were elected to office and assumed charge on 1 July 2022. Anthony became the chair while Rory assumed the duties of the vice-chair. However, in a sad turn of events, a vote of no-confidence was tabled against the chair on 14 August 2022 following which he tendered his resignation thus requiring Rory to take over as the acting chair. He became the Acting Chair on 15 August 2022 and served in office till 6 September 2022.

Career

Vishwamitra

Military career

Rory initially joined Vishwamitra and became a part of Royal Vishwamitran Army largely contributing to reorganize the forces along with Arturo Lara and Michal Nowacki. At the time of Rory's resignation from Vishwamitra, he was a Major General, having serving as the Deputy Commander of the Royal Vishwamitran Defence Force which he had helped form.

Political career

Rory contested the March 2021 general election as a candidate of the Royalist Party and was one of the few unopposed elected members of the 13th Lok Sabha. He represented the Kalapani constituency of Purvanchal in the 13th and 14th Lok Sabhas. Upon his election to the 13th Lok Sabha, he was appointed as the Chief Opposition Whip by party leader David Augustus. However, in June 2021, Augustus announced his resignation as the party leader and nominated Thomas Bainbridge as his successor. Bainbridge had successively lost two election and his elevation as party leader fumed Leonard who became the heir presumptive to David Augustus. Soon after the incident, Leonard announced his resignation from the party and became independent. Immediately after his resignation from the party, he was offered to be a part of the ruling government of prime minister Ștefan Marius Snagoveanu on 18 June 2021. He was appointed as a minister of state in the council of ministers. He was assigned the charge of the Minister of State of Defence. He joined the ruling National People's Congress in July 2021. In a reshuffle of the union cabinet on 6 August 2021, he was appointed as the Minister of State with independent charge in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.

He was promoted as a cabinet rank minister in the council of ministers of prime minister Farhaz Hazarika which was formed on 11 September 2021. He was appointed as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Sports and Youth Affairs. It was under the dual leadership of prime minister Hazarika and himself, that the ruling National People's Congress party ushered into an overwhelming victory in the November 2021 general election winning 18 of the 20 seats of the Lok Sabha.

After the election, Rory was recognized for his hardwork and merit in bringing the Congress party to power and was appointed as the Minister of External Affairs. He also retained the Parliamentary Affairs portfolio. Within a month after the election, he along with his ministerial colleague Jayden Dagsa held prime minister Farhaz Hazarika for inactivity and tried to topple the government but was not able to succeed. In a compromise, he demanded the resignation of prime minister Hazarika as the Congress party leader. He finally succeeded Farhaz Hazarika as the President of the National People's Congress in December 2021 and remained as its leader until the party's dissolution in May the next year. In a cabinet reshuffle on 15 January 2022, he swapped his portfolio of External Affairs with Michal Nowacki and was appointed as the Minister of Defence, a portfolio for which he longed for a long time. In February the same year, he lost his Parliamentary Affairs portfolio to Matthew Tonna and was appointed as the Minister of Education. He also held the additional charge of the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs between February and March that year.

Rory was dismissed along with most other ministers of the government in March 2022 when Rashtradhyaksh Varuna Sriraya assumed absolute charge of the government. Thereupon, he was appointed as National Security and Military Advisor to the Rashtradhyaksh with the rank of a cabinet minister. The full government was re-constituted on 12 May 2022 and Rory was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence in the third cabinet of prime minister Farhaz Hazarika. As the defence minister, he was responsible for introducing changes to the armed forces including the merger of the two branches of the forces - navy and the air force.

To Rory's surprise, he was removed as Deputy Prime Minister and lost the defence portfolio on 30 July 2022. He was appointed as the Minister of Finance and Health, Populations and Citizens' Welfare. The change in his rank and portfolio contributed in increasing his differences with Rashtradhyaksh Varuna Sriraya and prime minister Farhaz Hazarika. In September 2022, he announced the formation of the Vishwamitran National Party to counter the hegemonic rule of the Congress Party. Despite opposing the ruling Congress party, Prime Minister Farhaz Hazarika advised against removing him from the council of ministers. He formally ceased to be a minister on 11 November 2022 when the council of ministers was formally dissolved.

Under his leadership, the Vishwamitran National Party contested the 2022 general election and won 5 seats of the Lok Sabha. Despite the election of five of the party MPs, Rory failed to get elected to the Lok Sabha. He lost to Congress Party Arthur Lacey-Scott-FitzLacia in the Kalapani constituency, which he represented in the 13th and 14th Lok Sabha. He contested a by-election from the Maligaon constituency against NPC candidate and union minister of state Suryadeva Kapei but was defeated by Kapei. He continued to lead the party till January 2023 when he resigned from politics to serve as the Chief Secretary to the Government. In May 2023, he resigned from the position and contested the by-election for Noonmati constituency of the Lok Sabha and was unopposed elected to the Lok Sabha, thus marking his return to the house.

On 2 June 2023, he re-joined the VNP and was appointed as its Vice-President. Subsequently, he was appointed as the Leader of the Opposition by party president Devin Purcell, the same day.

Resignation and Withdrawal

Rory eventually left Vishwamitra in June 2023, after multiple years of service due to a falling out with the monarch, who labelled him a 'racist' and revoked his honors of the state of Purvanchal when Rory began voicing his opinions. Rory stated that by the Monarch being "head of government" and "head of state" was a perculiar thing, to which the Monarch insisted that Vishwamitra did not follow the 'western traditions'. When Rory brought up that India (the nation in which Vishwamitra was built off), also seperates the roles, he was labelled as a racist and his honours intended to be revoked. Upon hearing this, Rory relinquished his citizenship within Vishwamitra and resigned from all roles and positions. Other things Rory voiced his opposition too was the Rashtradhyaksh's continued involvement in political and parliamentary affairs.

Mass withdrawal from micronationalism

Rory notably withdrew from multiple micronations in which he participated in in May, 2023 (excluding Vishwamitra) including his home micronation of Lurdentania which was dissolved. No public reason was cited for this withdrawal.

Dates of rank

Baustralia

Rank	Component	Service
Wing commander	His Royal Air Force	2020 - 2021
Lance corporal	Royal Rifles	2021 - 2022
Captain	Baustralian Dragoons	2022 - 2023
Captain	Royal Baustralian Regiment	2023
Lieutenant colonel	Retired List	2023
Vice admiral	His Royal Navy	2023 - present

Vishwamitra

Rank	Component	Service
Colonel	Royal Vishwamitran Army	18 February 2021 - 29 May 2021
Brigadier	Royal Vishwamitran Army	29 May 2021 - 9 July 2021
Major General	Royal Vishwamitran Army	9 July 2021 - 10 June 2023
Lieutenant general	Royal Vishwamitran Army	Rank outgoing at retirement.

Titles, styles, and honours

Titles

• Lurdentania:
  • Emperor of Lurdentania
• Vishwamitra:
  • Duke Leonard (15 April 2022 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)
  • Count Leonard (16 August 2021)
  • Baron Leonard (3 July 2021)
  • Raj Ratna (11 January 2022 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)
  • Raj Bhushan (1 August 2021 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)
  • Deshabandhu (11 January 2022 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)

Honours

Lurdentanian honours

• Founder Sovereign and Knight Commander 1st Class of the Grand Order of Leonard (25 February 2021)
• Sovereign and Grand Cordon of the Order of the Emperor (25 February 2021)
• Founder Sovereign and Knight Commander 1st Class of the Order of Myrth (25 February 2021)
• Founder Sovereign and Grand Companion of the Order of the Royal Tree (25 February 2021)
• Founder Sovereign and Grand Commander of the Order of the Military (25 February 2021)
• Founder Sovereign and Knight Commander of the Illustrious Order of Diplomatic Chivalry (25 February 2021)
• Founder Sovereign of the Medal of National Service and Dedication
• Founder Sovereign of the Medal of Appreciation
• Founder Sovereign of the House of Commons Commendations
• Founder Sovereign of the Lurdentanian Military Commendation Medal
• Founder Sovereign of the Lurdentanian Exemplary Military Service Medal

Vishwamitran honours

• Grand Cordon of the Most Esteemed Supreme Order of the Hibiscus (DUK) (11 January  – 10 July 2023)
• Grand Cordon of the Most Excellent Royal Vishwamitran Order of Merit (SUVB) – Tan Sri (25 October 2022 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)
• Recipient 4th Class of the Distinguished and Long Service Medal (PVDS) (15 April 2022 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)
• Recipient of the National Service Medal (RSP) (15 April 2021 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)
• Recipient of the Royal Service Medal (PRS) (15 April 2022 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)
• Recipient of the Civil Service Medal (CSP) (15 April 2022 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)
• Recipient of the Commemorative Medal of the First Anniversary of the Vishwamitran Monarchy (8 June 2021 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)
• Recipient of the Commemorative Medal of the Crystal Jubilee of the Foundation of Vishwamitra (15 April 2022 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)
• Recipient of the Commemorative Medal of the 21st Birthday of Rashtradhyaksh Varuna Sriraya (11 January  – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)

Former honours

• Knight of the Most Auspicious Order of the Sanghamitra (15 April – 24 October 2022)
• Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Lotus (10 October 2021 – 24 October 2022)
• Grand Cross of the Most Illustrious Royal Order of the Crown of Vishwamitra (11 January – 24 October 2022)
• Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the Vishwamitra (8 June 2021 – 24 October 2022)
• Commander First Class of the Most Gallant Order of Mahabali Karthika Padaka (1 August 2021 – 24 October 2022)
• Grand Commander of the Most Illustrious Royal Order of the Crown of Vishwamitra (15 April 2021 – 11 January 2022)
• Commander Second Class of the Most Gallant Order of Mahabali Karthika Padaka (21 February – 1 August 2021)

State honours

• Basistha:
  • Grand Companion of the Most Excellent Order of Merit of Basistha (SUBB) – Dato Sri (27 January 2023 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)

• Beltola:
  • Commander Grand Cross of the Most Faithful Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Beltola (DUBM) – Dato Sri Vijaya (17 April 2023 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)
  • Commander First Class of the Most Faithful Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Beltola (DPBM) – Dato Vijaya (18 July 2022)

• Kamrupa:
  • Commander Grand Knight of the Premier and Exalted Order of Kamrupa (DPUK) (1 April 2023 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)
  • Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the State of Kamrupa (DURK) (2 November 2021 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)
  • Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the State of Kamrupa (DPRK) (22 June 2021)

• Madhya Prant:
  • Knight Companion of the Most Blessed Order of the Crown of Madhya Prant (DUMM) – Dato Indra (7 March 2023 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)

• Purvanchal:
  • Grand Knight of the Most Noble Royal Family Order of Purvanchal (DK I) (12 February 2022 – 10 July 2023)
  • Grand Commander of the Most Noble Royal Family Order of Purvanchal (DK II) (13 August 2021)
  • Grand Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Crown of Purvanchal (SUMP) – Dato Sri Utama (13 August 2021 – 10 July 2023, 8 September 2023 – present)
  • Grand Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of the Maharaja Varuna Sriraya (DUVS) – Dato Utama (2 January 2023 – 10 July 2023, 8 September – present)
  • Member of the Most Eminent Order of Loyalty and Faithful Service (13 August 2021)
  • Grand Officer of the Most Honourable Order of the Crown of Purvanchal (DUMP) (25 July 2021 – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)
  • Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of the Maharaja Varuna Sriraya (DPMD) (12 February 2022)

• Uttaranchal:
  • Grand Commander of the Most Honourable Order of Uttaranchal (DPUU) (4 May 2022  – 10 July 2023, 29 July 2023 – present)

Foreign honours

• Austenasia: Officer of the Austenasian Order (20 September 2022)
• Indradhanush:
  • Knight of the Order of Chandrachur I (15 September 2021)
  • Knight of the Order of Dhamma (29 August 2021)
  • Grand Commander and Founding Sovereign of the Order of the Royal Indian Star (23 September 2021)
  • Recipient of Rajyashahi Purushkar (1 December 2021)
  • Recipient of the Coronation Medal of Monroe I (1 January 2022)
• Snagov: Member of the Order of Friendship (24 October 2022)