![]() ![]() ‘For a proud Scot, there is no finer job to get at the end of your military career.’ That it has taken until now - the final chapter of that career - for him to tell his story, though, is terribly sad. His dream job, he says, strolling over the cobbles and pointing out the statue, over the drawbridge of his illustrious ancestor. We meet at Edinburgh Castle, where he was appointed governor in 2019. This is the first time Alastair has talked at length about his private life. When the Queen granted a rare interview in 2018, she chose to sit down with Alastair, who knows more than most about pomp and circumstance. Again he says ‘my husband’, beaming, the joy and relief palpable. ‘Now I can call him “my husband” and I have to say, that feels wonderful,’ he says. ‘We were not public and I was tired of not being public.’ He also - and about time - has a means of addressing the man he loves. ‘I am very aware that people will have spat out their cornflakes across their mahogany breakfast tables - their properly laid mahogany tables - in shock when they read Stephen and I had got married, but the overwhelming reaction has been supportive, which is just wonderful because we can share our joy, finally. He knew full well there would be other reactions, too. One quick-witted friend, the MP Tom Tugendhat, called him the very model of the modern major general, which made him laugh. On liberal Twitter, his news was greeted with jubilation. ‘I was never brave enough to be public like this before,’ he says, ‘but Stephen and I have benefited from the fact that other people were courageous and pushed through such social change that I can now stand here and say “this is the man I love”.’ Alastair, 61, had not only outed himself, but had become the highest ranking Army officer in the country to have a same-sex marriage. He tweeted about how this marriage would not have been possible in the British Army he joined in 1979, noting ‘attitudes change, but love is constant’.Īs coming out statements go, it was spectacular. Last month, Alastair - who is something of a Twitter addict (‘it is the third person in our marriage’) - tweeted a game-changing picture, a snap of his wedding day. ‘I never felt comfortable calling him my partner, he admits. They have been together for 20 years, but it has been a gay relationship conducted partly in the shadows, a modern-day love-that-dare-not-say-its-name. He was - and is - the love of Alastair’s life. He wasn’t even a military man for goodness sake his family ran a bakery. Stephen Knott was not a military aide, or a PA. ‘My father (who was a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy) used to refer to him as my “flag lieutenant”, which is an Admiral’s equivalent to an aide-de-camp, an officer’s assistant. ‘In the early days of our relationship, when we were scuttling about, I would introduce Stephen as my researcher,’ he admits. Major General Alastair Bruce, 61, tweeted a game-changing picture, a snap of his wedding day, alongside husband Stephen Knott. How sad it is, though, to hear this stickler for titles and protocol describe how he could never work out what to call the most important person in his life. As a child he wanted to be Lord Mountbatten, who was a family friend. He was an equerry for Prince Edward, and is godfather to his son. ![]() He is the man to have around if you get in a tangle about titles and ranks and how to address people, particularly in aristocratic or military circles. He commentates on all the big royal events for Sky TV, and is the famously picky historical adviser on Downton Abbey (don’t get him started on table settings). He is an expert on history (his own is impressive he’s a descendent of Robert the Bruce) and the military (42 years Army service, and counting). The newly-married Major General Alastair Bruce of Crionaich wears many hats, both literally and figuratively.
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