 Although he was raised to the peerage as Baron Bertie of Thame, in the County of Oxford, in 1915, during the war he was frequently bypassed by special missions directly from the British government, particularly the military mission of Lord Esher, with whom he also came into personal conflict.After the February Revolution he advised the British government against the Romanovs being allowed to go into exile in France as the ex-Empress Alexandra was perceived as pro-German.When Bertie fell ill in April 1918, he was replaced by the Secretary of State for War, Lord Derby, and returned to England.