Richard George Penn Curzon, 4th Earl Howe, (28 April 1861 – 10 January 1929), styled Viscount Curzon between 1876 and 1900, was a British courtier and Conservative politician. He served as Treasurer of the Household between 1896 and 1900 and was Lord Chamberlain to Queen Alexandra. Background and education Curzon was the eldest son of Richard Curzon-Howe, 3rd Earl Howe, and wife Isabella Maria Katherine Anson, daughter of Major-General The Hon. George Anson and wife The Hon. Isabella Elizabeth Annabella Weld-Forester. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. Career He served as a member of the council of Royal College of Music in London; and on the committee of Queen Alexandra's field force fund. Then he worked with the British military forces as honorary lieutenant colonel in the 2nd battalion Royal Leicestershire Regiment voluntary regiment, and voluntary regiment captain for Leicestershire Yeomanry, he gained a Territorial Decoration. Politics In 1885, Curzon was elected Member of Parliament for Wycombe. He became a government member when he was appointed Treasurer of the Household under Lord Salisbury in 1896, a post he held until 1900, when he inherited his father's titles and gave up his seat in the House of Commons. He then served as From 1900 to 1903 and he served as Lord-in-waiting under Salisbury and then Arthur Balfour; he served Queen Victoria 1900-1901, and King Edward VII 1901-1903. In 1903 he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order and appointed Lord Chamberlain to Queen Alexandra. He served in that post until the Queen's death in 1925. Lord Howe was also a captain in the Prince Albert's Own Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry, an honorary lieutenant-colonel in the 2nd Battalion of the Leicestershire Volunteer Regiment and a Justice of the Peace for Buckinghamshire. His brother-in-law, Lord Randolph Churchill, appointed him one of his two literary executors; in that capacity he gave his consent to Winston Churchill writing the biography of his father, although with some reluctance. Honours and decorations Lord Howe was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) in 1903. He also received several foreign awards: Order of Leopold (Belgium). Order of Charles III Spain. Order of St. Olav Norway. Order of the White Eagle (Poland). Order of the Dannebrog from Denmark. Order of the Polar Star from Sweden. Order of the Red Eagle from Prussia. Grand officer in Legion of Honour. Order