De Rothschild was the son of
Edmond James de Rothschild of the French branch of family. He was educated at
Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris and at
Trinity College, Cambridge. He served in the
First World War, at the outset as an enlisted man in the French Army then as an officer in
The Royal Canadian Dragoons, and ended the war as an officer in the British Army, serving in
Palestine as a
major in the 39th Battalion, The
Royal Fusiliers (part of the "
Jewish Legion"). He was awarded the
Distinguished Conduct Medal prior to commissioning as an officer. He was a keen follower of the
turf and a racehorse owner. His 33-1 runner "Bomba" won the
Ascot Gold Cup in 1909. He married
Dorothy Mathilde Pinto in 1913. She was 17 years old; he was 35. He became a naturalised Briton in 1920, and in 1922 he inherited from
Alice de Rothschild the
Waddesdon Manor estate of his great-uncle
Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, the Liberal
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Aylesbury from 1885 to 1898. ==Politics==