 He was educated at Harrow and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, but left after only a term amidst press headlines – "Count missing from Sandhurst".He worked as a cowboy in California for a year, returning to England in 1939 and marrying Pauline Ursula Mellowes in 1940.He registered as a conscientious objector, but after the death of a close friend he joined the Coldstream Guards, as a private soldier.