Richard was probably born at Beaumont Palace in England. Third son of Henry II of England (the eldest, called Guillaume, born in 1153, died at the age of three) and Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard is not destined to succeed his father . He was, however, the favorite son of his mother (who had had two daughters by her first husband, King Louis VII of France) and, when his parents separated, he became his heir to the crown of Aquitaine in 1168, then to the title of Count of Poitiers.
In 1169, he was engaged to Adele of France (daughter of the King of France Louis VII the Younger) Her father Henry II brought her to England, to take possession of the lands constituting her dowry (county of Aumale and county of Eu) , but, as soon as she was nubile, he would have abused her, would have made her his mistress and delayed the marriage. By the peace treaty signed on September 30, 1174 in Montlouis between Tours and Amboise, King Henry II renewed to Louis VII the promise of marriage between Adele and his son Richard, but he did not keep to it, and in 1177, Pope Alexander III intervened to summon him, on pain of excommunication, to proceed with the agreed marriage. Berry was to be her dowry. He renewed his promise in December 1183 and at Lent 1186, but still did not keep his promises. Meanwhile Adèle would have given birth to a son.
After the death of King Henry II Plantagenet on July 6, 1189, his son and successor Richard brought Adele to Rouen in February 1190, but in 1191 he warned the King of France Philippe-Auguste that he could not take his sister as wife because of the dishonor of which he accused her.