Richard practised as an architect until the death of his elder brother, William, placed him in direct line to inherit his father's dukedom of Gloucester, to which he succeeded in 1974.

At the time of his birth, he was second in line to his father's dukedom, behind his elder brother, Prince William of Gloucester, who was accidentally killed in 1972 before inheriting the title and having any children of his own.

Richard was baptised at the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor Great Park on 20 October 1944 by the retired Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang.

His godparents were his paternal aunt, Queen Elizabeth, Princess Marie Louise (his first cousin twice removed), Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (his grandaunt and first cousin twice removed, for whom her daughter, Lady May Abel Smith stood proxy), the Duke of Buccleuch (his maternal uncle), the Marquess of Cambridge (his cousin), Lady Sybil Phipps (his maternal aunt), and General the Earl Alexander of Tunis (for whom his wife, then Lady Margaret Alexander, stood proxy).

Prince Richard's early education took place at home, under the instruction of Rosalind Ramirez, who had also tutored young King Faisal II of Iraq; later, he attended Wellesley House School at Broadstairs and Eton College.

[5] In 1963, he matriculated at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he read architecture,[5] graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in June 1966.

Richard became heir apparent to his father's dukedom and had to take on additional family obligations and royal duties on behalf of the Queen.

[15] The Duke of Gloucester, accompanied by the Duchess, represented his cousin Elizabeth II at the Solomon Islands independence celebrations on 7 July 1978.

[16][17] He served as a judge in Prince Edward's charity television special The Grand Knockout Tournament on 15 June 1987.

[5] In July 2011, the Duke visited the Isle of Man to meet with the representative of Manx National Heritage and the Council of Cancer Charities.

[34] On 22 and 26 March 2015, the Duke represented the Queen at the ceremonies marking the reburial and commemorations of King Richard III in Leicester Cathedral.

[35] In March 2018, the Duke travelled to Malawi to attend the Commonwealth Day celebrations, and visited projects related to health services, wildlife, and climate change.