 On 20 May 1950, he married Jaquetta Mary Theresa (née Digby) (28 October 1928 - 22 February 2019), youngest daughter of Edward Kenelm Digby, 11th Baron Digby and sister of Pamela Churchill Harriman and Edward Digby, 12th Baron Digby.They had six children, four sons and two daughters, born between 1951 and 1962.In 1979 he changed his name to David Guthrie-James to mark the connection between Clan Guthrie and his family home Torosay Castle on the Isle of Mull.