 Given command of the cruiser HMS "Suffolk" in the Mediterranean Fleet in 1905, he then took command of the battleship HMS "Implacable" in the Atlantic Fleet in March 1909.He served as Captain of the ocean liner SS "Balmoral Castle" for the Duke of Connaught's cruise to open the Parliament of South Africa in 1910.Appointed a Naval Aide-de-Camp to the King on 14 March 1910, he took part in the funeral of King Edward VII in May 1910 and became an extra equerry to King George V on 10 June 1910, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George on 17 January 1911.