William Herbert, 18th Earl of Pembroke
William Alexander Sidney Herbert, 18th Earl of Pembroke and 15th Earl of Montgomery, was born on 18 May 1978. He is the son of Henry Herbert, the 17th Earl of Pembroke, and Claire Pelly. He has three older sisters and three younger half-siblings from his father’s second marriage. He grew up at Wilton House in Wiltshire and went to Bryanston School. He later studied at the University of Leeds for two years, taking a foundation course in 3D computer graphics design, and then studied industrial design at Sheffield Hallam University, becoming the first Herbert to graduate with a first‑class honours degree.
In 2003 his father died, and William inherited the family titles and Wilton House. He initially worked as an industrial designer with Terence Conran, but in 2004 he left that job to manage Wilton and its estate full time. In a 2005 interview, he spoke about the responsibilities and difficulties of running a historic home. He also noted the need to marry and have a son to secure the succession. At the time, his heir presumptive was a distant cousin, George Herbert, the 8th Earl of Carnarvon.
The Wilton estate covers about 14,000 acres, including 14 farms and more than 200 houses, with around 30 staff. The house is open to the public, though the Pembrokes use about a third of it privately. Since 2006 he has served as President of the Stars Appeal, a charity supporting Salisbury District Hospital, and he has been active in fundraising. From 2010 he and his wife Victoria Bullough led extensive renovations at Wilton, earning several awards.
In 2021 Pembroke completed an MSc in Rural Estate Management at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester. He is a car and motor racing enthusiast, having raced at Le Mans in a Jaguar D-Type and competing in the Funcup endurance series since 2009, with a Spa 25 Hour class win in 2011. He has owned several classic cars, including a Mercedes 300SL, an Invicta Type-S, and a Porsche 911.
In April 2009 he announced his engagement to Victoria Bullough, and they married on 29 May 2010 at Wilton. Their children are Lady Alexandra Eloise Ekaterina (born 2011), Reginald Henry Michael, Lord Herbert (born 2012), Louis Charles Alexander (born 2014), and Lady Beatrice Aurelia Skye (born 2016). Victoria comes from a Scottish family and has worked in interior design and charity circles; she is a patroness of the Royal Caledonian Ball. The heir apparent is Reginald, Lord Herbert.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 03:42 (CET).