He married (c. 1172) Amice FitzRobert, Countess of Gloucester (c. 1160-1220), second daughter, and co-heiress, of William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester, and Hawise de Beaumont.
He sided with the Barons against King John, even though he had previously sworn peace with the King at Northampton, and his castle of Tonbridge was taken. He played a leading part in the negotiations for Magna Carta, being one of the twenty five Barons appointed as guardians. On 9 November1215, he was one of the commissioners on the part of the Barons to negotiate the peace with the King. In 1215, his lands in counties Cambridge, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex were granted to Robert de Betun. He and his son were among the Barons excommunicated by the Pope in 1215. Sometime before 1198 Earl Richard and his wife Amice were ordered to separate by the Pope on grounds of consanguinity. They separated for a time because of this order but apparently they reconciled their marriage with the Pope later on.