He was with Edward IV at Dover, on 21 August 1463, and was among the Yorkist leaders under the command of John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu, who defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Hexham on 15 May 1464.
In June 1467 he was fully restored in blood by an Act of Parliament which reversed his father's attainder, by which he acquired 'the additional title of Lord Welles'.
In 1468, by order of the King, he was confirmed in his rights against competing claims to his father's lands by his stepmother, Margaret Beaufort, Duchess of Somerset, and his half-brother, John Welles.
[9] The King summoned Lord Welles and his brother-in-law, Sir Thomas Dymoke,[8][10] to London to account for their actions.
At first Welles pleaded illness; he afterwards came to London, but took sanctuary at Westminster Abbey, from which he was lured by the promise of a pardon, which was granted on 3 March 1470.
Both were attainted, and since Sir Robert had died without issue, the King bestowed the Welles and Willoughby lands on one of his loyal supporters, Sir Richard Hastings, who had married Lord Welles's daughter, Joan,[6][11][5] save for lands around Lilford Hall which were acquired by William Browne (Mayor of the Calais Staple) in 1473.