Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Blair Aubyn Stewart-Wilson, (17 July 1929 – 24 May 2011), was

equerry An equerry (; from French language, French 'stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attend ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and Deputy

Master of the Household The Master of the Household is the operational head (see Chief operating officer) of the "below stairs" elements of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. The role has charge of the domestic staff, from the Royal Kitchens, the pages and footm ...

from 1976 to 1994.

Early life

Born Blair Aubyn Wilson in Chelsea to Lieut. Aubyn Harold Raymond Wilson and his wife, Muriel Athelstan Hood Stewart. In May 1934, his father died while living in Australia."WILSON Aubyn Harold Raymond of Yarraberb Raywood Victoria Australia died 19 May 1934" in ''Wills and Administrations 1934'' (1935)
p. 500
His mother, who was '' lady laird'' of Balnakeilly, married secondly Major Charles Greville Bartlett Stevens, and took the name of Stewart-Stevens. Stewart-Wilson was educated at

Sandroyd School Sandroyd School is an independent co-educational preparatory school for day and boarding pupils aged 2 to 13 in the south of Wiltshire, England. The school's main building is Rushmore House, a 19th-century country house which is surrounded by th ...

and

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

.''

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

'', volume 3 (2003), p. 3,743 His older brother Ralph Stewart-Wilson (1923–2015) eventually succeeded their mother as laird of Balnakeilly in

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

." Col Ralph Stewart-Wilson - obituary Scottish soldier who won an MC for his reconnaissance under heavy fire during the advance on Aquino"
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

, 30 April 2015

Career

Stewart-Wilson joined the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642 in the Ki ...

on 14 July 1949, three days before his 20th birthday, and in 1952 was commissioned as a lieutenant into the

Atholl Highlanders The Atholl Highlanders is a Scottish private infantry regiment. A ceremonial unit, it acts as the personal bodyguard to the Duke of Atholl, chief of the Clan Murray, a family that has lived in Perthshire for roughly seven centuries. Although ...

(the Duke of Atholl's private regiment). He served in the United Kingdom, the

British Army of the Rhine British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked ...

(BAOR), and the

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. From 1955 to 1957, he was

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

of the 2nd

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

of the Scots Guards, and then from 1957 to 1959 was aide-de-camp to the

governor-general of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the Advice ...

, Lord Cobham. In 1960–1962 he was

to the

Duke of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester ( ) is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curre ...

.'STEWART-WILSON, Lt-Col Sir Blair (Aubyn)' from ''

Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...

'' online, accessed 2 June 2015 He was regimental adjutant from 1966 to 1968. He was staff qualified, but did not attend the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

. Stewart-Wilson was promoted lieutenant-colonel and was a general staff officer grade 1 (GSO1) in the foreign liaison section (Army) from 1970 to 1973, and Defence Military and

air attaché An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, 1975–1976. In 1976 he joined the Queen's Household. He retired from active military service on 17 July 1984. In his later years he was a supernumerary list officer. From 1994 until his death he served as an extra equerry to H. M. the Queen. He was HM's representative trustee on the board of the

Royal Armouries The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's national collection of arms and armour. Once an important part of England's military organization, it became the United Kingdom's oldest museum, and one of the oldest museums in the world. It is als ...

from 1995 to 2004 and served as the

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

County Patron for the charity

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organisation. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

from 1997 until his death.

Personal life

In 1962, Stewart-Wilson married Helen Mary Fox; the couple had three daughters, Alice Helen, Sophia Mary, and Belinda Anthea Stewart-Wilson.

Honours

He was made a LVO in 1983, a CVO in 1989 and a KCVO in 1994. He received the General Service Medal, the Campaign Service Medal,

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

and

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

bars, and the

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal () is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir from the Queen to members of the Royal Family ...

(1953).

References

Notice of death of Sir Blair Stewart-Wilson

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart-Wilson, Blair 1929 births 2011 deaths Equerries People educated at Eton College Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order People from Chelsea, London Place of death missing Scots Guards officers Air attachés for the United Kingdom Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 20th-century British Army personnel