Mary believed that her enemies made false reports against her supporters in the Scottish Borders, hoping the English authorities would make reprisals.

George had challenged Lord Fleming, the commander of Dunbar Castle, to single combat.George served as a member of Parliament in the Commons for several terms (for Hertfordshire in 1571, for Hampshire in 1584, 1586, 1589, and 1593).

[4] He was given the tenure of the lands of the Cornish recusant Francis Tregian when the latter was convicted of praemunire in 1577 for aiding and abetting the missionary priest Cuthbert Mayne.

In 1586, French diplomats complained that as Governor of the Isle he profited from goods taken from merchant ships, including velvet, satin, leather, cardamom, and ivory.

In 1597 George was invested as a Knight of the Garter, and it is sometimes proposed that the first performance of William Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor was held to commemorate the occasion.