 Alderete then travelled to London, where he met the King and obtained from him the governorship-for-life for Valdivia.As he was on the road to Spain to start the journey back to Chile, he received the news of the death of Valdivia, so he returned to England once more, where the King appointed him to succeed Valdivia on October 17, 1554, and named him Adelantado and a Knight of Santiago.In the meantime, back in Chile the will of Valdivia had also appointed him as his successor as governor of Chile, but that was disallowed by the Viceroy of Peru Melchor Bravo de Saravia, who appointed an interim governor.