Second son of Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, a wealthy landowner, British cabinet minister and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and his second wife, Elizabeth Howard of Greystoke Castle, Cumberland, sister of Esme Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Penrith. He was a half-brother to George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, the famous Egyptologist who co-discovered King Tutankhamen's tomb along with Howard Carter. He was afflicted with eye problems which left him nearly blind from early childhood, losing all his sight towards the end of his life. He was educated at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford University, where he obtained a first class degree in modern history. He was famous for climbing the roofs of the university buildings, despite his near blindness. He numbered among his friends Adrian Carton De Wiart, Raymond Asquith, John Buchan and Hilaire Belloc. Reginald Farrer remained close throughout his life. His friendship with Middle Eastern traveller and advisor Sir Mark Sykes dates from his entry into parliament in 1911 when, with George Lloyd, they were the three youngest Conservative MPs. They shared an interest in foreign policy and worked closely together in the Arab Bureau (1916). Herbert was also a close friend of T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia); their letters do not feature in the standard Lawrence collections, but are quoted by Margaret Fitzherbert in the biography of her grandfather, The Man Who Was Greenmantle. Herbert was in his own right a considerable Orientalist, and a linguist who spoke French, Italian, German, Turkish, Arabic, Greek and Albanian as well as English. A renowned traveller, especially in the Middle East, his trips include voyages through Japan, Yemen, Anatolia and Albania. During the period 1902-04 he was an honorary attache in Tokyo, then in Constantinople during 1904-05. He was much more interested in the Middle East than in the Far East. He became a passionate advocate of Albanian independence, having visited the country in 1907, 1911 and 1913. During a stay in Tirana (1913) he befriended Essad Pasha. When the Albanian delegates to the 1912–13 London Balkan Peace Conference arrived, they secured the assistance of Herbert as an advisor. He often dressed as a tramp on his travels. He was a very independent Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for the Southern division of Somerset from 1911 to 1918, and for Yeovil from 1918 to his death. Always an advocate of the rights of smaller nations, Herbert opposed the British Government's Irish policy. Herbert was, however, always seen as something of a lightweight in the House of Commons. Aubrey Herbert married Mary, daughter of the 4th Viscount de Vesci, a member of the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. Lord de Vesci and his wife had converted to Roman Catholicism and raised their children accordingly. Herbert's mother-in-law gave the family a fine house in London. Herbert's mother gave him both a country estate at Pixton Park in Somerset with 5,000 acres (20 km²) of land and a substantial villa on the Gulf of Genoa at Portofino. was a slim man of more than average height and contemporaries described him as having perfect manners. Towards the end of his life, he became totally blind. He was given very bad advice to the effect that having all his teeth extracted would restore his sight. The dental operation resulted in blood poisoning from which he died in London on 26 September 1923.