In 1461 Howard was High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, and during the years 1462-4 he took part in military campaigns against the Lancastrians. In 1467 he served as deputy for Norfolk as Earl Marshal at 'the most splendid tournament of the age when Antoine, count of La Roche, the Bastard of Burgundy, jousted against the Queen's brother, Lord Scales. In the same year he was one of three ambassadors sent to Burgundy to arrange the marriage of the King's sister, Margaret of York, to Charles, Duke of Burgundy. At about this time he was made a member of the King's council, and in 1468 he was among those who escorted Margaret to Burgundy for her wedding. During the 1460s Howard had become involved in the internal politics of St John's Abbey in Colchester, of which he was a patron. He interfered with the abbatial elections at the Abbey following the death of Abbot Ardeley in 1464, helping the Yorkist supporter John Canon to win the election. Howard then appears to have interfered again in support of Abbot Stansted's election following Canon's death in 1464.