He was a member of the aristocratic Howard family, influential Catholic nobility.

[4] During the Second Boer War, he was Commander of 8th Brigade and took part in the Defence of Ladysmith in 1900.

[5] In early 1903 he took part in the special mission (headed by Lord Downe) deputized by the King to travel to Iran to present the Shah with the insignia of the Order of the Garter.

[6] He was made Inspector General of Auxiliary Forces and Recruiting at the War Office in 1903 and then Commander of North Western District in 1904.

[7] Howard held a number of honorary military appointments, including aide-de-camp to the Queen (1895); Colonel of the Gloucestershire Regiment (1912–13) and Colonel-Commandant of the 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade (until June 1921).