His father, Dr Georg Tugendhat (1898–1973), who was born in Vienna, came to Britain after the First World War to pursue a doctorate at the London School of Economics,[3] marrying Marie Littledale in 1934.

On 3 December 1980, when leaving his home in Brussels, two bullets were fired at Tugendhat from a car, narrowly missing him; he recalled the attack "closer than I would have liked".

[9] Following his role at the European Commission, Tugendhat was Chairman of the Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House) from 1986 to 1995, and of the Civil Aviation Authority from 1986 to 1991, when he was succeeded by Sir Christopher Chataway.

Lord Tugendhat later went on to become the Chairman of Abbey National, Blue Circle Industries, the European Advisory Board of Lehman Brothers, and the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

[15] In 1998 Lord Tugendhat was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by the University of Bath,[16] becoming Chairman of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, the UK's first academic health science centre, from 2007 until December 2011.