 Lord Rosse was the eldest son of Laurence Michael Harvey Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse, and Anne (née Messel, mother of Lord Snowdon, by an earlier marriage).Lord Rosse was educated at Eton College, Aiglon College, University of Grenoble and Christ Church, Oxford.He was an officer in the Irish Guards from 1955–57 and worked for the United Nations from 1963–80.