In 1942, he supported Britain's Soviet ally with the composition of the song, "Wishing You Well, Mr Stalin".

In 1958, he met a wealthy American heiress, Patricia Meek, née Zoelner, during a stage production of Jane Eyre, produced by Huntington Hartford in New York City.

In 1972, he married another wealthy heiress, Ghislaine (née Dresselhuys; former wife of both the 6th Earl of Caledon and the 4th Baron Ashcombe), the only daughter of Dutch-born Long Island resident and former Consul of the Netherlands in London, Cornelius William Dresselhuys and Edith Merandon du Plessis.

On 15 December 2003, he married his third wife, Hannah Steinberg, a member of the Wolfson family.

He owned property in Belgravia, London, and lived in retirement near Marbella until his death in Kidderminster in 2012, aged 88.