 He is the son of General Sir Richard McCreery and Lettice, daughter of Major Lord Percy St. Maur and granddaughter of Algernon St Maur, 14th Duke of Somerset.During the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 Charles McCreery was a page to Field Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke, and took part in the ceremony in Westminster Abbey.McCreery was educated at Eton College (1955–60) and New College, Oxford (1961–64), where he read Philosophy and Psychology.