# David Herbert > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/David_Herbert > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/David_Herbert.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Herbert > Source revision: 1333255973 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) thumb|David Herbert in 1940 {{for|the US artist|David Herbert (artist)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Use British English|date=July 2012}} The Honourable '''David Alexander Reginald Herbert'''{{cite book|last= Stevens |first= Christopher |title= Born Brilliant: The Life of Kenneth Williams|publisher= John Murray|year= 2010|isbn = 978-1-84854-195-5|page=392 }} (3 October 1908 – 3 April 1995{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-david-herbert-1614237.html|title=Obituary: David Herbert|date=4 April 1995|work=[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)|author=Michael De-La-Noy}}) was a British socialite and writer, seen in the 1920s as one of the [Bright Young Things](/source/Bright_Young_Things). == Early life and education== [[File:Wilton House, view of the south front from the park.jpg|thumb|[Wilton House](/source/Wilton_House)]] David Herbert was the second son of [Reginald Herbert, 15th Earl of Pembroke](/source/Reginald_Herbert%2C_15th_Earl_of_Pembroke). He spent some of his early years at [Castletown House](/source/Castletown_House) in Ireland, while his father was an [aide de camp](/source/aide_de_camp) to [Sir Arthur Paget](/source/Arthur_Paget_(British_Army_officer)), [Commander-in-Chief, Ireland](/source/Commander-in-Chief%2C_Ireland). At the age of four, he moved to the family seat of Wilton House, near [Salisbury](/source/Salisbury), and from there was educated as a boarder at [Wixenford School](/source/Wixenford_School) and [Eton College](/source/Eton_College). == Career== Herbert had brief periods as a film actor, appearing in 1930's ''Knowing Men'', and as a [cabaret](/source/cabaret) performer. He briefly shared an apartment with [Noël Coward](/source/No%C3%ABl_Coward) in the [East End](/source/East_End), and was satirized by [Lord Berners](/source/Gerald_Tyrwhitt-Wilson%2C_14th_Baron_Berners) as the character Daisy Montgomery in his 1936 satiric novel, ''The Girls of Radcliff Hall''.Hoare, Philip. ''Noël Coward: A Biography''. Page 238. University of Chicago Press, 1938 He was also scathingly satirized as "Peter Barclay" in [William Bayer](/source/William_Bayer)'s novel ''Tangier''. He first visited [Tangier](/source/Tangier), [Morocco](/source/Morocco), in 1933 with Poppet John, a daughter of [Augustus John](/source/Augustus_John), and took a property there where he could afford to maintain a standard of living beyond his means in England. Apart from a house with a large garden, there were cottages, in which his servants lived, a cook, a housemaid, two gardeners, and a Moroccan manservant-chauffeur. He spent almost fifty years in Tangier, where he was known for his vibrant personality, frequent lavish parties, good taste, and ruthless [snobbery](/source/snobbery).{{Cite web|url=http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/11/the-aesthetes/|title=The Aesthetes|last=O'Hagan|first=Andrew|date=11 April 2014 |access-date=2016-08-05}} He was referred to by [Ian Fleming](/source/Ian_Fleming) as 'the Queen Mother of Tangier'.Carr, Virginia Spencer. ''Paul Bowles: A Life''. Page 205. Simon and Schuster, 2004.Obituary of Countess Katalin Banffy-Jelen, ''The Times'', 18th February 2025 He was labelled as the 'most terrible snob' by author Patrick Thursfield, who attended his famous parties.{{Cite book|last=Walton|first=Tony|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ErV9AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA233|title=Up the Kasbah|date=2011|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-0-9566091-1-3|language=en}} During the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War), Herbert served in the [Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve](/source/Royal_Naval_Reserve). Herbert's books recall his years in the company of such figures as [Cecil Beaton](/source/Cecil_Beaton), [Lady Diana Cooper](/source/Lady_Diana_Cooper), [Noël Coward](/source/No%C3%ABl_Coward), [Paul](/source/Paul_Bowles) and [Jane Bowles](/source/Jane_Bowles), [Cyril Connolly](/source/Cyril_Connolly), [Brian Howard](/source/Brian_Howard_(poet)), [Barbara Hutton](/source/Barbara_Hutton), [Osbert Sitwell](/source/Osbert_Sitwell) and [Tallulah Bankhead](/source/Tallulah_Bankhead). These include ''Second Son: An Autobiography'' (1972), which included a foreword by Paul Bowles and photographs by Cecil Beaton, ''Engaging Eccentrics: Recollections'' (1990), his second volume of autobiography, and ''Relations and Revelations: Advice to Jemima'' (1992), a book of memories and opinions written in the form of advice to his great-niece Jemima. == Death== Herbert died of [kidney failure](/source/kidney_failure) in 1995 and was buried in the cemetery at Saint Andrew's Church, Tangier. He had been a devout [Anglican](/source/Anglican). On his tombstone was engraved, "He loved Morocco". File:III Church of St. Andrew's, Tangier, Morocco (2).jpg|Church of St. Andrew's, Tangier, Morocco File:Grave of david herbert tangier.jpg|tomb of David Herbert ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.paulbowles.org/photosfriendsone.html A Biography of David Herbert by Kenneth Lisenbee] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026232735/http://www.paulbowles.org/photosfriendsone.html |date=26 October 2021 }} *{{IMDb name|0378524}} *[http://www.wiltonhouse.co.uk/ Information on Wilton House, home of the Earl of Pembroke] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Herbert, David}} Category:1908 births Category:1995 deaths Category:20th-century Anglicans Category:20th-century English male actors Category:20th-century English memoirists Category:English socialites Category:English gay actors Category:Younger sons of earls Category:People educated at Eton College Category:People educated at Wixenford School Category:English people of Russian descent Category:English interior designers Category:British expatriates in Morocco Category:Deaths from kidney failure Category:English Anglicans Category:British cabaret performers David --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [David Herbert](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Herbert) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Herbert?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.