Montrose remained a leading member of the Regent's Council and was rewarded on 11 January 1546, for his personal attendance on the Queen, with a charter of many of the lands forfeited by the Earl of Lennox (at least until Lennox's restoration to favour in 1564).
Montrose was not present at the Reformation Parliament of 1560 and was the only nobleman to attend the Queen's first mass on her return from France in 1561.