Caroline was born and raised in Bedford. After leaving school, she trained as a PA in Oxford and subsequently worked for Oxford University Press, and then in the marketing department of Tropicana UK Ltd in Guildford just as they launched in the UK. She married Nicholas in 1991 and they have three children and one grandchild. In 1999, the family moved from Surrey to Cambridgeshire to live in Little Shelford.
Caroline has been a non-Executive Director of the Howard Group (a family property business which was started by her grandfather) since 1994. As a shareholder of the company, she also chairs the Family Council. She is a Trustee of a number of charities including the Howard Foundation, Mrs Jane Cart’s Trust, and the Police Shrievalty Trust and is also a Patron of Viva, an arts and community group in Soham. Caroline is involved in her local church where she has served as churchwarden.
Caroline served as High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire in 2021/22, and was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire in 2021.