Lord Harris was made Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Kent in 1884, Under-Secretary of State for India in 1885, and Under-Secretary for War in 1886 to 1890.
He left for India in 1890 to take up the position of Governor of Bombay, where he worked for five years and was active in encouraging the development of cricket, He was criticised by locals for paying more attention to sport than to famine, riots and sectarian unrest.
Lord Harris’s association with the military began in 1873 when he was appointed Captain in the Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles . He was granted the honorary rank of Major in 1888, promoted to Major in 1895, and to Lieutenant Colonel in 1897. He commanded the regiment from 1897 to 1908.