Khandro,I remember seeing Douglas Murray on one of his many QT appearances.He made an incredible impact I thought and you could see a very intellectual young man.His icy eyes and stoic persona with a delivery that fired darts at the bullseye.
There are some parallels with TR and yet they are so different in other ways not least in terms of education as you mention.
TR himself though was awarded an engineering apprenticeship if I've recalled rightly.I'm sure he was one of only a handful of over 600 applicants who got one.