Have you tried using a Template component?
I can’t get this to repro in my own org, but I’m also not 100% I’m following your setup. I’m interested in the steps you took to make this rather than XML hacks.Check out my XML below for clarification:
<p><strong>Rich Text:</strong></p> <p><strong>&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;To initiate this request.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;</strong></p> <p><strong>Template</strong></p> &lt;p&gt;To initiate this request.&lt;/p&gt; <p>Template that Allows HTML</p> &lt;p&gt;To initiate this request.&lt;/p&gt;