Boyd was born into an aristocratic British family, and served as a pageboy at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
Boyd lived for much of his life at Ronda in Andalusia, first with Diana, and later with Hilly and their son James, where he variously ran a tapas bar and a language school.
After inheriting his father's title in 1975 Boyd took his seat in the House of Lords, eventually joining the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which according to his obituary in The Times "suited his political instincts admirably".
[3] He was the deputy leader of the SDP Peers from 1986 to 1987, and served as the chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Aids from 1987 to 1996.
[2][4] His publications include Sabbatical Year (1958); The Road from Ronda (1969); The Companion Guide to Madrid and Central Spain (1974); The Essence of Catalonia (1988); The Sierras of the South (1992); The Social Market and the State (1999); and Rosemary: A Memoir (2005).