Herbert was born at Number 26, Bruton Street, Mayfair, London, and baptised at Street George"s, Hanover Square. He was son of the Honourable Sir Percy Egerton Herbert and Lady Mary Caroline Louisa Thomas Petty-FitzMaurice, daughter of William Petty-FitzMaurice, Earl of Kerry.
He was educated at Eton College and at Street John"s College, Cambridge, where he graduated Bachelor in 1885 and Master of Arts in 1905.
After gaining of his first degree, he was employed as a civil servant in the administrative branch of the General Post Office in London but resigned after succeeding to his peerage. He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire in 1896, a post he held until 1951. He was also a Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Montgomeryshire and Justice of the Peace for the counties of Montgomeryshire and Shropshire, and Alderman of Shropshire County Council.
In 1898 he was made Honorary Colonel of the 4th (Militia) Battalion of the South Wales Borderers.
Lord Powis married the Honourable Violet Ida Evelyn Lane-Fox, daughter of Sackville Lane-Fox, 15th Baron Darcy de Knayth, in 1890. In 1903 Violet succeeded her father in the barony of Darcy de Knayth.
Lord Powis died in November 1952, aged 90, and was buried at Christ Church churchyard, Welshpool. He bequeathed his family seat, Powis Castle near Welshpool,to the National Trust.
