Alastair Bruce of Crionaich
Major General Bruce in 2019
Birth name	Alastair Andrew Bernard Reibey Bruce[1]
Born	(1960-06-25) 25 June 1960 (age 63)[1] Winchester, Hampshire, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1979–present
Rank	Major General
Unit	Scots Guards General Staff
Commands held	Governor of Edinburgh Castle
Battles/wars	Falklands War Iraq War The Troubles
Awards	OBE VR
Spouse(s)	Stephen Knott ​ (m. 2021)​
Relations	Earls of Elgin and Kincardine
Other work	Fitzalan Pursuivant Extraordinary Dir. Ceremonies, Order of St John

Major-General Alastair Andrew Bernard Reibey Bruce OBE VR DL (born 25 June 1960), is a journalist and television correspondent,^[2] and a senior British Army reservist and officer of arms in the Royal Household. He commanded the TA Media Operations Group before being appointed Governor of Edinburgh Castle in 2019.^[3]

Royal, Religious and National Events Commentator for Sky News, Bruce was previously engaged by the BBC, and was historical adviser to several feature films and the ITV series Downton Abbey.^[4] He has commentated on many major state events in the United Kingdom, including the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the Royal Wedding in 2011, the Papal Visit in 2010, and the deaths and funerals of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, The Queen Mother in 2002, The Duke of Edinburgh in 2021, and Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

Early life and education

Bruce was born at Winchester in 1960, younger son of Lieutenant Commander Henry Victor Bruce of Salloch and Helen Vernon Wallop William-Powlett, daughter of Vice Admiral Sir Peveril William-Powlett. His great-grandfather was James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, KT and he is in remainder to both family earldoms.^[1] Brought up in Hampshire, he spent much of his childhood in Sutherland, in the far north of the Scottish Highlands,^[5] where his parents owned the Sallachy Estate^[6] near the village of Lairg.^[7]

Bruce was educated at Milton Abbey School, an independent boarding school for boys (now co-educational), in Milton Abbas, Dorset, before attending the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, in Berkshire.^[5]

Life and career

Armed forces

Commissioned in the British Army, in 1979, Bruce was promoted, the following year, to lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion^[7] of the Scots Guards.^[1] He served as a regular officer for four years, seeing active service in the Falklands War of 1982. The following year, he erected a cairn at Sallachy in Sutherland, in memory of his orderly in the Falklands, Guardsman James Reynolds, from the village of Bridge of Weir in Renfrewshire, who was killed in action while bringing back a wounded comrade, who survived. Reynolds died at the age of 19 at Tumbledown Mountain, and at the time was the only soldier to be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal posthumously. At the time, Lieutenant Bruce said: "On returning to Britain after the Falklands, I decided I wanted to do something in honour of Jim Reynolds. He was such a brave young man who was well-liked by everyone".^[7]

An Assistant Vice-President with Merrill Lynch from 1983 to 1989,^[1] Bruce remained a military reservist. In 2004, he took command of the reserve unit, Media Operations Group, co-ordinating media representation of military activity.^[8] In the same year, he was mobilised on active operations in Iraq, serving in Operation TELIC.^[9] He was promoted colonel in the Territorial Army, and became the equerry to Prince Edward.^[4] After serving as Director of Ceremonies of the Order of St John, in 2008, Bruce was appointed a Knight of St John^[10] (OStJ (1991);^[11] CStJ (1997)),^[12] and in 2010, became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours for "services to the Territorial Army".^[7][13] He was Deputy Commander of 3rd Division and Colonel of the London Scottish Regiment.^[9]

In 2019, Bruce succeeded Major General Michael Riddell-Webster as Governor of Edinburgh Castle^[14] and was promoted to the rank of major general.^[15]

In 2020, Bruce was appointed honorary colonel of 5 Military Intelligence Battalion;^[16] and in 2021, as honorary colonel of Tayforth Universities Officers' Training Corps.^[17] He was further appointed honorary holonel of the 6th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland Army Reserve from 1 December 2023.^[18]

Officer of Arms

Queen Elizabeth II appointed Bruce as one of her heralds on 7 October 1998 as Fitzalan Pursuivant,^[19] and he has been a member of the Royal Company of Archers,^[20] the Sovereign's ceremonial bodyguard in Scotland, since 1990.^[9]

Television, film and publications

Historian

Bruce has worked as a historical advisor to Oscar-winning films such as The King's Speech (2010) and The Young Victoria (2009), and the BAFTA-winning television series Downton Abbey (2010–2015) in which he provided historical accuracy as far as possible while balancing this with the need not to slow down the story unduly. He also advised on the minutiae of early 20th-century society protocol, in such subjects as dress, posture, the serving of food and even on matters that might initially appear trivial, such as the use of vocabulary or the correct way to step out of a car.^[4][5]

Bruce has written many books, and worked with several independent production companies in the preparation of television documentaries which are regularly aired on the BBC, America's PBS network, Discovery Channel and A&E channels. Among these are Nicholas and Alexandra, Victoria and Albert (2001) and Days of Majesty.^[9]

Royal documentary

In 2017 Bruce recorded a conversation with Queen Elizabeth II for the BBC: the Queen spoke about her coronation, more than 60 years earlier, in a programme entitled The Coronation.^[21]

Academia

Bruce has lectured widely throughout Britain, Europe and the United States; his subjects range from the last Tsars of Russia to British monarchy and the Vatican. In 2011, he was appointed Honorary Professor of Media at the University of Winchester.^[9]

Personal life

Recognised in the name of Bruce of Crionaich by Lord Lyon King of Arms in 1984,^[1] on 3 July 2021, after 20 years together, Bruce was married to Stephen Knott at St John's Episcopal Church by the Bishop of Edinburgh.^[22][23][24]

Bruce is a godfather to James Windsor, Earl of Wessex, the only son of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.^[25]

Arms

Coat of arms of Major General Alastair Bruce of Crionaich

Adopted Matriculated 12 December 1981[26] Crest A lion statant, tail extended sable, armed and langued gules. Escutcheon Or a saltire and chief gules, on a dexter canton argent a lion rampant azure armed and langued of the second, on a sinister canton argent a bend wavy sable.[27] Motto Fuimus et Sumus ("We have been and we are").

Honours

Ribbon	Description	Notes
	Order of the British Empire (OBE)	2010 Officer Military Division
	Order of St John (KStJ)	2008 Knight of Justice
	General Service Medal	With "NORTHERN IRELAND" clasp
	South Atlantic Medal	With rosette 1982
	Iraq Medal	2004
	Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal	6 February 2002 UK Version of this Medal
	Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal	6 February 2012 UK Version of this Medal
	Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal	6 February 2022 UK Version of this Medal
	King Charles III Coronation Medal	6 May 2023 UK Version of this Medal
	Volunteer Reserves Service Decoration (VR)	10 years' service in the Territorial Army.
	Service Medal of the Order of St John	With 1 silver bar
	Governor-General’s Medal [28]	Caribbean Realms (Silver Award)
	25th Anniversary of Independence Medal [28]	Antigua & Barbuda
	30th Anniversary of Independence Medal [28]	St Lucia

As an Equerry to the Duke of Edinburgh (formerly the Earl of Wessex) since 2004, Bruce wears an aiguillette on his right shoulder while in military uniform, as well the Royal Cypher of the Duke of Edinburgh on his epaulettes.^[29][28] Appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater London on 9 October 2012, he is entitled to use the post-nominal letters "DL" in perpetuity.^[30]