After a period of comparative inactivity, in 1698 he signed the Treaty of The Hague (1698), the first treaty for the partition of the Spanish Monarchy. It was characteristic of William III that despite his personal dislike of Williamson, so evident in the 1670s, he did not hesitate to make use of his diplomatic skills. The negotiations had been kept a strict secret, and news of the Treaty caused uproar in England, but Williamson himself escaped any serious censure.