well regarded by the royal family: Prince Albert had previously recommended that Percy's infantry manual, Brigade Movements (1853) be distributed to every officer in the Brigade of Guards. In spite of the young Prince not being given as much commendation or responsibility in matters of drill as he had hoped, he liked Percy 'very much' – perhaps because the latter, being a strict disciplinarian, insisted on treating him just like any other junior officer. However, the Curragh visit was marred by the Prince's 'fall', following which Queen Victoria blamed her son for Prince Albert's death. 'The fall' came in the form of initiation in carnal pleasure with the actress Nellie Clifden, as arranged by junior officers at the Curragh. Later military career On the occurrence of the Trent Affair in December 1861, Percy was sent to New Brunswick in command of the first battalion of the Grenadier Guards. He had been promoted to be major in 1860, but retired from active service on 3 October 1862 owing to the chronic ill health he had suffered ever since the Crimean War. However, he remained on half-pay and briefly commanded a brigade at Aldershot – the place to which he and another Grenadier officer, Col. F. W. Hamilton, had first brought the army in 1853 when they selected Aldershot Heath and its surrounding area as a new training ground. In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, he was sent by the Duke of Cambridge, Commander-in-Chief, as an observer with the Prussian Army at Sedan. On 24 May 1873 he was gazetted a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. He was also rewarded for his military services by being appointed to the colonelcy of the 89th (The Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot on 28 May 1874. He became a full general on 1 October 1877. Politics He succeeded his brother, Lord Lovaine, as Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Northumberland North from 1865 to 1868. He was found dead in his bed at his residence, 40 Eaton Square, London, on 3 December 1877, and was buried in the Percy family vault in St. Nicholas' Chapel, Westminster Abbey on 7 December. He was unmarried. References Further reading Barthorp, Michael (1991), Heroes of the Crimea: The Battles of Balaclava and Inkerman. London, Blandford Press. Bayley, C. C. (1977), Mercenaries for the Crimea. Montreal and London, McGill-Queen's University Press. Hamilton, Lieut-Gen Sir F.W. (1874), The