Alastair Bruce: 'When I joined the army it was illegal to be gay'

Maj Gen Alastair Bruce was married to Stephen Knott in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle last month

When Alastair Bruce joined the army in 1979 it was illegal to be gay and serve your country.

Last month Maj Gen Bruce became the highest-ranking officer in the British army to have a same-sex wedding.

After years of hiding their relationship, he married his partner of 20 years, Stephen Knott, in Edinburgh in full military uniform.

Gen Bruce kept his sexuality under wraps for his entire professional life, fearing he would be "dishonourably discharged" from the institution he sacrificed so much for.

He served with the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards in the Falklands in 1982, and rose through the ranks hiding that side of him. He is now governor of Edinburgh Castle.

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It wasn't until January 2000 that the British military changed its view on homosexuality.

Until then, gay, lesbian and bisexual people had been banned from serving in the British Army, the Royal Navy and the RAF

But even after Gen Bruce met Stephen in 2001, he continued to keep his relationship quiet.

The couple kept their relationship discreet but are now fully open after their wedding in Edinburgh

The royal broadcaster told BBC Radio Scotland's Mornings with Stephen Jardine programme: "I think I had spent most of my life keeping it quiet anyway. Attitudes socially were somewhat different to what they are today.

"Some people haven't altered their view but most people have. As a consequence, in almost every professional interest I had at the time, there would have been an issue.

"As you join the army you have to adapt to be more physically able - it's all part of the training. So I think I had been well trained to cover up the fact that I had a particular sexuality and I just quietly got on with living as well as serving."

He met Stephen when he was lecturing on a cruise ship in the Great Barrier Reef.

"I never thought anyone came to my lectures under the age of 40," he said. "I was amazed he would be interested in some of the historical stuff I talk about.

"But he returned and we got chatting and it just took time and within a few months he left where he lived in Northern Ireland to come and live with me in this country.

"It was such a huge brave step by him and I was awakened by his capacity for love to realise what really mattered in life. And although we continued to maintain a very low-key relationship, we knew this was something that was going to last."

As governor of Edinburgh castle, Gen Bruce takes part in high-profile ceremonial duties

Gen Bruce said the couple worked hard to be discreet.

"I used to say to Stephen if we were walking down a street and I saw someone in the army he would walk on ahead as if I didn't know who he was and we would meet up in the next shop."

But, as attitudes have changed, his did too, and as he revealed his private life to those closest to him, he found nothing but support.

'Incredible journey'

The wedding at St John's Church on Princes Street, officiated by the Bishop of Edinburgh, started a new, more open chapter in his life.

After the ceremony, the couple held a reception in Edinburgh Castle.

He explained: "It was fantastic. It absolutely poured with rain, but nothing was going to dampen how Stephen and I felt.

"It has been a long journey and we were absolutely delighted and we are still thrilled."

And it meant a lot to him to be married in full Army ceremonial uniform.

"I have really loved serving in the Army. I wanted to wear uniform at my wedding to say thank you to the armed forces for the incredible journey they have taken and the fact that now, as it should be, we only care whether people are able to deliver, as I put it, 'calculated precise and legal violence against the Queen's enemies' when the nation demands it.

"What people do in their spare time is of no consequence to that issue."

He does not see the earlier years as living a lie and has found peace with the past. Indeed many friends have told him they knew, but respected him enough to leave him alone.

Last year, the MoD main building was lit in rainbow colours to celebrate 20 years since lesbian, gay and bisexual personnel were legally allowed to serve in the armed forces.

He said: "It was complicated and you had to recognise there was a certain amount of jeopardy if you allowed it to become a more publicly-known issue.

"I am still a bit gauche but that is not caused by how people truly react because everyone is delighted.

"The truth is, my anxiety endures purely because I lived through a youth where I was cautious and I had a profession where I had to be very very careful and that does shape you."

The major general now looks forward to his work at Edinburgh Castle, with Stephen by his side, not walking ahead.

"Because I love history anyway and because I am a Bruce, it means so much to be here but to have Stephen by my side makes everything more entertaining - he adds levity and is brilliant with people.

"I hope we will be a firmament of that continuing welcome this castle affords to people all over the world who come to find the very best of Scotland."