Betjeman was born in Highgate, London. He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford. In 1933 he married Penelope Chetwode; they separated in the late 1940s. The couple's son, Paul was born in 1937. Their daughter was Candida Lycett Green (1942–2014). Betjeman's partner from 1951 until his death was Lady Elizabeth Cavendish.