Nugent was the younger son of Brigadier General George Colborne Nugent, eldest son of Sir Edmund Charles Nugent, 3rd Baronet, of Waddesdon (see Nugent Baronets), who was killed in action in 1915. His mother was Isabel Mary Bulwer, daughter of General Sir Edward Gascoigne Bulwer.
He was educated at Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1936. Nugent was appointed Equerry to the Duke of York (the future George VI) in 1927, a post he held until 1936. He subsequently served as Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain" General’ s Office between 1936 and 1960 and as an Extra Equerry to George VI between 1937 and 1952 and to Elizabeth II between 1952 and 1960.
In 1960 he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Nugent, of West Harling in the County of Norfolk.
From 1960 to 1973 he was a Permanent Lord-in-Waiting to Elizabeth World War II
He fought in the First World War as a major in the Irish Guards, was mentioned in despatches, wounded and awarded the Military Cross. He was made a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in 1927, promoted to Commander (Commander of the Royal Victorian Order) in 1937, to Knight Commander (Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order) in 1945 and to Knight Grand Cross (Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order) in 1952. He was also made a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour the same year.
