DUGALD Bruce Lockhart was 14 when his father James took him and his younger brother, Andrew, 13, into their garden in Vienna for a quiet chat. "I was thinking we were a bit old for the birds and the bees," Dugald, now 55, admits today-four decades after the conversation.
In fact, the rites of passage James Bruce Lockhart wanted to discuss had nothing to do with the normal teenage curiosities.
Having hitherto claimed he worked for the Foreign Office, he had now decided it was time to reveal what he really did for a living.
"Dad said, 'You're getting to the age where you might hear friends talking about spooks.
Well boys, I'm in the Secret Intelligence Service, but you can't go talking about it'," recalls Dugald. "Of course, we were very excited and immediately thought he was James Bond."
James Bruce Lockhart's career with the Foreign Office was in fact a cover for his real work with MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence service, about which despite his admission to his sons - he always remained tight-lipped.
He would only say that he had followed a similar path to that of novelist John Le Carré, who worked undercover for the agency in Bonn and Hamburg during the Cold War.
Dugald continues: "We knew Dad had several passports, and he liked to tease us when we asked, 'What exactly did you do?' "He gave nothing away, really, apart from the time he told us about taking our dog for a walk and pretending to be an American tourist in Greenwich Park to scope out some agents who wanted to meet with him 'alone'.
"It turned out they weren't alone at all.
Good job he had the Hawaiian shirt and our Welsh terrier with him as a disguise..."
This story is from the May 16, 2024 edition of Daily Express.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 16, 2024 edition of Daily Express.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
It's time to give elderly a voice
CAMPAIGNERS have called for the urgent appointment of an older people's tsar to tackle widespread age discrimination.
Tories vow to enlist 8,000 extra police for neighbourhood crime crackdown
RISHI Sunak declared war on neighbourhood crime yesterday, pledging 8,000 new police officers will patrol the nation's communities.
Farage attack on PM 'deliberately divisive'
SENIOR Tories yesterday demanded that Nigel Farage apologise after he accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of not understanding \"our culture\".
Plant it like Beckham...fans call for TV show
DAVID Beckham fans reckon TV bosses should give the football legend his own gardening slot.
EVEN STRACHAN HOPES ENGLAND THROW CAUTION TO THE WIND
Scot legend in plea to wary Gareth
Eilish will use special bracelet for inspiration
LATE GRAN WILL HELP MCCOLGAN ON HER WAY TO OLYMPICS
THE HEAT IS ON
Hot gym sessions get England acclimatised
RAB KEEPS FRIENDLY
Havlin stays on Derby second at the Curragh
Police to probe school after Earl's sex claims
POLICE have launched an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at the boarding school where Earl Spencer claims he was attacked.
Harry's mum unspeakably hurt that killer won't give evidence at his inquest
THE grieving mother of Harry Dunn says she is \"unspeakably hurt\" that the US spy who killed her teenage motorcyclist son has refused to give live evidence to his inquest.