After the queen was defeated at the Battle of Langside in 1568, Seton retired to Flanders where he tried to enlist in foreign service. Two years later he returned to Scotland and was one of the judges on the trial of the Earl of Morton who was accused of complicity in the murder of Darnley. Seton's portrait now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. He was succeeded by his second son, Robert, who James VI of Scotland created Earl of Winton in 1600.