Henry Herbert, 6th Earl of Carnarvon

Henry George Alfred Marius Victor Francis Herbert, 6th Earl of Carnarvon (7 November 1898 – 22 September 1987) was a British peer, the son of George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon and Almina Wombwell, whose biological father was banker Alfred de Rothschild.

Life

Styled Baron Porchester from birth, he inherited the Earldom of Carnarvon on the 1923 death of his father – who was famously funding archaeologist Howard Carter when he discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun. The 6th Earl attributed the death of his father to the "Curse of Tutankhamun", claiming that the moment his father died on 5 April in Egypt, the family dog howled and died a sympathetic death at Highclere Castle, the family seat. In his memoirs, he described an unloving upbringing by his parents. After his father died, he became responsible for the upkeep of Highclere Castle while his mother refused him an inheritance. She remarried only eight months after the death of her first husband.

Marriages and issue

Henry Herbert, 6th Earl of Carnarvon married Anne Tredick Wendell on 17 July 1922 and they were divorced in 1936. They have two children:

• Henry George Reginald Molyneux Herbert, 7th Earl of Carnarvon (19 January 1924-11 September 2001) he married Jean Margaret Wallop, daughter of Hon. Oliver Malcolm Wallop and Jean Moore, on 7 January 1956. They have three children.
• Lady Anne Penelope Marian Herbert (3 March 1925) she married Captain Reinier Gerrit Anton van der Woude, son of Reinier Gerrit Anton van der Woude, on 21 April 1945. They have three children:
  • Michael Gerrit Woude (25 March 1946)
  • David Anthony Woude (7 November 1947)
  • Penelope Catherine Mary Woude (19 August 1952)

He remarried Tilly Losch (former wife of Edward James) on 1 September 1939 and they were divorced in 1947.

His obituary by Hugh Massingberd famously described him as a "most uncompromisingly direct ladies' man".

Publications

Late in life he published two books of memoirs:

• No Regrets: Memoirs of the Earl of Carnarvon (1976).
• Ermine Tales: More Memoirs of the Earl of Carnarvon (1980).

Further reading

• Cross William, Lordy! Tutankhamun's Patron As A Young Man , Book Midden Publishing, 2012 (ISBN 978-1-905914-05-0).
• Cross William, The Life and Secrets of Almina Carnarvon : 5th Countess of Carnarvon of Tutankhamun Fame , 3rd Ed 2011 ( ISBN 978-1-905914-08-1).
• Cross William, Catherine and Tilly: Porchey Carnarvon's Two Duped Wives: The Tragic Tales of the Sixth Countesses of Carnarvon, Book Midden Publishing, 2013 ( ISBN 978-1905914-25-8).