In 1662, she was appointed to the office of First Lady of the Bedchamber to the new queen, Catherine of Braganza, upon her arrival in England, while her niece, the king's mistress Barbara Villiers, was appointed one of the ladies of the Bedchamber.
[4] Lord Northumberland wrote to Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester: "My Lady of Suffolk is declared first lady of the bed-chamber to Her Majesty, at which the Duchess of Richmond and Countess of Portland, both pretenders to the office, are displeased.
"[5] There was no Mistress of the Robes appointed, and the office of First Lady of the Bedchamber was the highest-ranked of all the female officials of the queen, giving her precedence over the rest of the ladies-in-waiting.
Barbara Howard welcomed Catherine to the country as the senior of the five ladies-in-waiting present when the new queen arrived at Portsmouth, about which Lord Sandwich wrote: "The Queene, as soon as she came to her lodgings, received my lady Suffolk and the other ladies very kindly, and appointed them this morning to come and put her in that habit they thought would be most pleasing to the King ; and I doubt not but when they shall have done their parts, she will appear to much more advantage and very well to the King's contentment.
"[6] She assisted the queen in changing her Portuguese style to an English way of dress and hairstyle, and discard the heavy hairstyle, farthingale and stomacher used in Portugal, which was considered outdated as a fashion from the Elizabethan age.