David Herbert was the second son of Lord Herbert who was the elder son of the 15th. Earl of Pembroke, and 12th. Earl of Montgomery. David Herbert was brought up in Castletown in Ireland until he was four when his father inherited the family home, Wilton, outside Salisbury. At the age of nine David Herbert went to a preparatory school at Wixenford. He was then sent to Eton where he spent four years but he did not shine either academically or in sport.
The writer Edith Olivier, cousin of Laurence Olivier, lived in one of David Herbert's father's houses in the Park at Wilton. David Herbert first met Cecil Beaton at this time when he came to stay with Edith Olivier. Another visitor to Edith Olivier who David Herbert got to know was Brian Howard, and they became life-long friends. His parents wanted to send him to Sandhurst military college but he resisted and instead spent some time at an army college at Farnborough.
He was employed by the novelist and family friend Elinor Glyn as second lead in two films Knowing Men, (1930) and The Prices of Things, but he made no impact as an actor. In 1926 he was shocked to learn of his father's bankruptcy
In 1927 he went to Berlin where he was employed briefly as secretary to the banker Otto Kahn. Otto Kahn sacked David Herbert from this job and he then taught English to German actresses. David Herbert shared a flat in Berlin with Christopher Sykes, an honorary attaché at the British embassy. He also befriended Cyril Connolly who wrote plays for the three of them to perform in Harold Nicolson's apartment in front of a private audience including the Ambassador and his wife.
David Herbert was short of money and the manager of the nightclub The Jockey, where he had sung at the piano, offered him a twice-weekly slot. David Herbert sought out Hans, a young man who he had seen play at a night-club called The Silhouette. They borrowed sailors' uniforms and performed as German sailors singing songs like In einer kleinen Konditorei and Mean to Me. While in Berlin he met Ruth Landshoff and he surprised his friends by becoming engaged to her, but it lasted only about six months.
Herbert returned to London and spent many evenings in the two night-clubs, frequented by black people, the Nest Club and Frisco's. David Herbert had been introduced to John Hamilton who gave him a job in his furniture business. This led to work in dealing in antiques and interior decorating. He also renewed his friendship with Cecil Beaton who encouraged him to paint portraits of society hostesses, including Rose Kennedy (mother of John Kennedy who became president) and her daughters. The painter Stephen Tennant, who had been a neighbour in Wiltshire, arrived in New York and spent time with David Herbert, shocking New York with his flamboyance and make-up.
David Herbert returned to Britain, renovated Park School in the grounds of Wilton and lived there. At this time his cousin Michael Duff was having difficulty with his marriage, and in 1933 he and David Herbert decided to take a trip to Morocco. While waiting at Tilbury, David Herbert and Poppet John picked up a young man at a bar who turned out to be an Irishman called Neil Griffin. He was with them for the next six weeks. In Tangier they stayed at the El Minzah Hotel and met the barman Dean. David Herbert was immediately attracted to the liberal atmosphere of the International City and he returned for a month every year until the Second World War. In the summer of 1938 he returned with Cecil Beaton and they rented a house in the Casbah from the painter Jim Wyllie. They worked together on Cecil Beaton's spoof camp biography My Royal Past.
In 1939 David Herbert enlisted in the Merchant Navy and served as a wireless operator in the Indian Ocean. At about 2:30 am on 21st. December 1942 his ship, the SS Strathallan, was hit by a torpedo from a German U-boat off the coast of Algiers in the Mediterranean. There were over 5000 people on board but most survived. In the summer of 1947 David Herbert and Cecil Beaton were lent Villa Mektoub in Tangier by Loel Guinness. It was it this time that they met Paul and Jane Bowles who were staying at the Hotel el Fahar with Truman Capote and Jack Dunphy.
Back at Park School David Herbert met James Caffery, nephew of the American Ambassador. James Caffery asked David Herbert out and from then on they spent a lot of time together. In August 1946 he left Park School for the last time and went on a motoring tour with James Caffery, staying with friends in Italy and France. They arrived in Tangier in October to settle there. Their house was at Djamaa el Mokra on the western side of Tangier. It was decorated in vivid shades of pistachio pink and mangrove green, and inside it was hung with pictures by old friends Cecil Beaton and Patrick Proctor.
However, James Caffery did not like Morocco or the Moroccans and the relationship between him and David Herbert began to break down. James Caffery met a young Spaniard and they opened a shop selling wicker and wrought-iron furniture. Two years later James Caffery left with the young man for Spain where they opened an antique shop together.
When Brian Howard visited Tangier with his German boyfriend a scandal was narrowly avoided after the boyfriend fired a revolver at the hero on the screen of a film showing at the Mauretania Cinema. David Herbert arranged with the Consul-General for them to be able to leave the country of their own accord rather than being expelled. David Herbert was known as the "Uncrowned Queen" of Tangier.
In 1969 David Herbert became heir presumptive to the Earldom of Pembroke when his brother died, but this only lasted until the birth of his nephew's son in 1978. Towards the end of his life he tried to hide a receding hairline with an ill-fitting toupee, and also wore numerous rings on his fingers.
