Was travel editor for The Sunday Telegraph and a wine critic.
Served as an officer in the Royal Artillery during World War II, saw active service at Normandy and in Operation Veritable. Left the British Army in 1947 with the rank of Captain.
Educated at Collyer's grammar school, Horsham, then at the Imperial Service College, Windsor. After his service in WWII, he studied at Worcester College, Oxford, graduating in Modern History in 1954.