King visited England in 1874, but returned and settled permanently in Queensland in the following year, being created a Knight of the Crown of Italy on his retirement from the Sydney consulship for Italy. In 1880 Mr. King accepted the Executive Commissionership for Queensland at the Melbourne International Exhibition, and represented the colony on the steel rails inquiry held in London in 1881. King was nominated to the Queensland Legislative Council on 26 January 1882, a position he held until resigning on 19 March 1890.