When World War II broke out, Southey enlisted in the British Army, and following completion of training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst he was commissioned in the 2nd Battalion of the Coldstream Guards.
With parliamentary preselection virtually assured, Southey's political hopes were dashed after confidential memos he had sent to Prime Minister William McMahon, in which he called for several newspaper editors to be "straightened out", were published in a book.
[1] In 1978, he was invited to join the Australian Ballet as a director, and was appointed chairman in 1980 after resolving an industrial dispute and dancers' strike.
Southey's involvement with the dance world had begun during his childhood, when his uncle, the ophthalmologist Ringland Anderson, looked after members of the Ballets Russes when they visited Australia.
Valerie Southey died on 30 November 1977, and from 1982 he was married to Marigold Shelmerdine (née Myer) until his death in 1998.