 One of Brookfield's last acting roles was in "The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein", as Baron Grog, with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Savoy Theatre in 1897.He prepared the English adaptation of this piece, in which he bowdlerised the more risqué French version.In 1898, after nearly two decades on stage, Brookfield gave up acting when, after a severe illness, he was diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis.