Viscount Dunwich was commissioned captain in the 1st Norfolk Artillery Volunteers (which included Suffolk batteries) in 1882. He was promoted major in 1884, and lieutenant colonel to command the unit in 1888. He was promoted to colonel in the Volunteers on 26 June 1902, and was awarded the Volunteer Decoration on 15 August 1902. He was appointed an aide-de-camp to King Edward VII in the 1902 Coronation Honours list on 26 June 1902, serving until the King's death in 1910 when he was re-appointed by King George V.