On 4 March 1872, the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, appointed him as one of his equerries. He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI) on 7 March 1876, and was brevetted to lieutenant-general on 1 October 1877. He was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Bengal Cavalry on 1 April 1881, and was transferred to the unemployed list on 1 July 1882. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, Civil Division (KCB) in the 1887 Golden Jubilee Honours. On 1 December 1888, he was promoted to the local rank of general in the British Indian Army while unemployed, and was promoted to the substantive rank of colonel in the Bengal Cavalry on 1 April 1893. He was appointed one of the first Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) on 26 May 1896.