 In Autumn 1944 he served in the staff of Duff Cooper, minister-resident charged with re-opening the British embassy in Paris, and in 1945 he became a reservist in the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR).From 1944-48 he was a press attaché in Paris, and in 1954 he began a diplomatic career, starting as first secretary and head of the administration in the Persian Gulf, a post he held until 1957.In 1958–59, he was Assistant Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary, Selwyn Lloyd, before returning to France during De Gaulle's presidency to work as intelligence advisor at the British embassy from 1959-64.