[4] Palmer was educated at Eton and the University of Edinburgh, where he received a Certificate in Farming Practice.

For the Historic Houses Association for Scotland, The Lord Palmer was vice-chairman in 1993 and 1994, and chairman between 1994 and 1999.

Palmer was also President of the Palm Tree Silk Company in St Lucia, of the British Association of Biofuels and Oils (BABFO), and of the transport division of the Renewable Energy Authority.

He was a member of the National Farmers Union of Scotland and between 1994 and 2023 he was chairman of the Country Sports Defence Trust.

Together they had three children; two sons and a daughter:[4] Palmer married secondly in 2006 Loraine McMurrey, a Houston heiress, and divorced in 2013.