He was born on 29 November 1905 to Gordon Howard, 5th Earl of Effingham, and Rosamond Margaret Hudson.

In October 1932, Howard was charged with manslaughter after an inquest found that he had knocked down an agricultural labourer in his car.

[2] He served in the Royal Artillery during the Second World War, succeeding his father as Earl of Effingham on 7 July 1946.

His first wife, Hungarian-born Maria Malvina Gertler, was under suspicion by MI5, and in fact was interned for three months in 1941 on the grounds that she was involved in the "preparation of acts prejudicial to the public safety or the defence of the realm" and held in Holloway prison.

In return for £10 per week, Effingham agreed to serve on the board of Esmeralda's Barn, the gambling club operated by the Kray twins in the early 1960s.