Hudson returned to Italy when appointed by the 1852–55 UK coalition government to the British Legation at Piedmont, specifically to promote representative democracy.

His interest in painting fostered friendships with Massimo d'Azeglio, Prime Minister of Piedmont, and Giovanni Morelli,[5] who were entertained at the British Legation.

[10] At the end of his tenure Hudson sold the Legation artworks, but gave a Titian copy, ascribed to Poussin, to Verdi[11] and a Jacopo de' Barbari to Layard.

[12] In 1863 he was offered the ambassadorial post at Constantinople by the then Foreign Secretary, Lord John Russell; this he refused, not wanting to leave Italy.

[2] He chose retirement, which was spent mainly in Italy where he undertook various business interests, including railway projects, and became a director of the Anglo-Italian Bank, and a director of the Italian Lands & Public Works development company, which financed Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and other public works in Florence.