Henry Howard was born in 1517 to a noble, wealthy family. He had a very privileged, yet difficult childhood. At a young age he inherited the title of the Earl of Surrey and soon became accustomed to the life of someone of his stature. When he joined the King's court, he developed a good reputation with his peers and was dubbed Knight of the Order of the Garter. However, Surrey was a very reckless, overconfident individual and through one mistake after another, slowly lost his favor with the King. After much plotting of his enemies, Surrey became Henry VIII's very last victim.