 After being demobilised, Van der Byl studied law at Pembroke College, Cambridge where his aristocratic manner stood out. "P. K." was always elegantly dressed and coiffured, and acquired the nickname "the Piccadilly Dutchman". He obtained a Third-class degree in his Part II Law examinations in 1947, and went on from Cambridge to study at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration from 1947 to 1948 (although he did not obtain a degree at the latter). He also studied at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.
