He succeeded his grandfather to the title in 1969, his father, Lieutenant-Commander The Honourable Michael Robert Rancé de Courcy (1907–1940), RN, having been killed in action in 1940.
[6] Lord Kingsale was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Irish Guards 1962–1965, after which he resigned due to being unable to keep himself on his limited private income.
He was famous for his subsequent varied career, at various times working as a film extra (including on Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor), a lorry driver in the West Midlands, safari keeper on the estate of the Duke of Bedford, and bingo caller in Birmingham.
[7] At one point he attempted publishing with his cousin, Kenneth de Courcy, and was a director of the off-licence chain Bin Ends.
[8][9] In the 1980s he ran a dating service in Australia — which was successful although he never managed himself to marry, although he made repeated attempts to acquire a wife.