As editor, Buckle did little to alter either the appearance or the policies of the paper. No longer "the Thunderer" of old, its employees endeavoured to present the news irrespective of bias or interest. By now the staff saw themselves as a collective body serving the public interest, a sense preserved by its ongoing editorial practice of supporting whichever government was in power at the time. The paper's purchase and publication of Richard Piggott's forged letters purportedly showing a connection between Irish Parliamentary Party leader Charles Stewart Parnell and the Phoenix Park murders was primarily motivated by the desire for a scoop rather than because of politics, and Buckle's subsequent offer of his resignation was rejected by Walter. In the years that followed, Buckle's control over the day-to-day operations of The Times declined due to administrative reorganisation, as authority was gradually decentralised within the paper. Buckle's own duties were reduced slowly to matters of editorial control and the writing of the leading article. When Lord Northcliffe purchased the paper in 1908, he pressed forward with modernisation measures which Buckle had long resisted. The death of the managing director, Charles Frederic Moberly Bell, three years later eliminated the last check on the owner, and Northcliffe forced Buckle's resignation on 31 July 1911.
Literary career
A few months after his departure from The Times, Buckle was approached by the trustees of the estate of Benjamin Disraeli about continuing work on a multi-volume biography of the former prime minister, work on which had been halted by the death of the initial author, William Flavelle Monypenny. Buckle accepted, spending the next eight years writing the final four volumes of the Life of Benjamin Disraeli. After its completion in 1920, he was asked to take on another ongoing project, the editing of Queen Victoria's letters. Accepting after some hesitation, he performed the task with discretion, ultimately editing six volumes covering Victoria's letters from 1861 until her death. Buckle's final project was organising a multi-volume history of The Times, the first volume of which was published before he died in 1935.
Personal life
Buckle married twice. His first marriage, in 1885, was to Alicia Isobel, the third daughter of the novelist James Payn; their union produced two children. After Alicia's death, Buckle married his first cousin Beatrice Anne, the second daughter of John Earle, in 1905.
