Lloyd was born in London, and studied drawing and painting at the Kingston School of Art before being called up to the army in 1945. He started his writing career at the Jersey Evening Post and worked as a freelance journalist before becoming a full time writer in 1962. His first book, published by Longmans in 1964 was The Drums of Kumasi a non fiction account of the Ashanti Wars. This was followed in 1966 by The Year of the Conqueror (published as The Making of the King 1066 in the USA), a study of the events and people leading up to the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Further non-fiction work followed on the history of Spain, George III, King John and the Zulu War. His first fiction work, The Eighteenth Concubine was published in 1972, and Kine, the first of his Kine Saga novels was published in 1982.

Lloyd is married with one son. He is currently published by HarperCollins