Russell had a strained relationship with his father and grandfather for their refusing him an allowance that he (Ian) felt would be suitable and sufficient for a future Duke of Bedford.

[2] In youth, the 13th Duke of Bedford was known as Ian, and addressed with the courtesy title Lord Howland.

In 1948, he emigrated to the Union of South Africa where he farmed in the Paarl area, before returning to the UK upon succeeding to his father's estates.

In 1953, at the death of his father, the 12th Duke of Bedford, Russell then faced death-duty taxes of $14 million, but paid that tax debt by commercialising the house and lands of Woburn Abbey, and charging admission to the local public and foreign tourists, in 1955, instead of handing over the family estates to the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, and later expanded the Woburn Abbey business with the creation and addition of the Woburn Safari Park, in 1970.

[6] Russell married three times; his wives were: Bedford and his last duchess became tax exiles in 1974, eventually settling in Monaco.