He served as an Extra Equerry to King George V, and, from 1932 till his death, he was a Groom-in-Waiting to the monarch.

His father would eventually be appointed Commander-in-Chief, China Station, and his great-grandfather, James Buller, who died in 1830, was a Lord of the Admiralty in 1811 and later a Clerk to the Privy Council.

He took gunnery and torpedo courses at HMS Defiance during the late summer 1902,[8] and on 1 September that year was posted to the royal yacht HMY Victoria and Albert.

[11] While under Buller's command, HMS Highflyer chased the German auxiliary cruiser SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse at full speed before engaging with her; the German vessel was subsequently sunk, after approximately an hour of fighting.

He died on 29 August 1960, leaving an estate worth over £71,000, and was buried in St Mary the Virgin churchyard, Shipley, Sussex.