During the buildup to the impending Invasion of England of 1326 Grey was first granted more land at Howyk and then in August ordered to join John de Sturmy, Admiral of the Fleet of the North, alongside other captains and their ships, to help defend the hugely unpopular Edward II from his wife Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. Grey was ordered to "compel" ships from Northumberland ports to join the fleet and to supervise their departure for Orwell, Suffolk in early September. No naval conflict occurred and, landing at Orwell on 24 September, Isabella and Mortimer seized control of England with virtually no opposition, with most of Edward's orders having been ignored. Edward II was imprisoned and replaced on the throne by Edward III.