page_title: Viceregal consort of Canada
hierarchical_section_title: Viceregal consort of Canada
caption_attribution_description: English: Official photo of Governor General and Lady Bessborough.
context_page_description: The viceregal consort of Canada is the spouse of the serving governor general of Canada, assisting the viceroy with ceremonial and charitable work, accompanying him or her to official state occasions, and occasionally undertaking philanthropic work of their own. As the hostess of the royal and viceroyal residence in Ottawa, the consort, if female, is also known as the Chatelaine of Rideau Hall. This individual, who ranks third in the Canadian order of precedence, after the Canadian monarch and the governor general, is addressed as His or Her Excellency while their spouse is in office, and is made ex officio an Extraordinary Companion of the Order of Canada and a Knight or Dame of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.
  Only once has the title of Chatelaine of Rideau Hall been held by someone who was not the spouse of the governor general—as Vincent Massey was a widower, his daughter-in-law, Lilias Massey, held the title and performed the official duties of the Chatelaine. Unlike a viceregal consort, however, Lilias Massey was not addressed as Her Excellency.
context_section_description: The viceregal consort of Canada is the spouse of the serving governor general of Canada, assisting the viceroy with ceremonial and charitable work, accompanying him or her to official state occasions, and occasionally undertaking philanthropic work of their own. As the hostess of the royal and viceroyal residence in Ottawa, the consort, if female, is also known as the Chatelaine of Rideau Hall. This individual, who ranks third in the Canadian order of precedence, after the Canadian monarch and the governor general, is addressed as His or Her Excellency while their spouse is in office, and is made ex officio an Extraordinary Companion (French: Compagnon Extraordinaire) of the Order of Canada and a Knight or Dame of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem. 
  Only once has the title of Chatelaine of Rideau Hall been held by someone who was not the spouse of the governor general—as Vincent Massey was a widower, his daughter-in-law, Lilias Massey, held the title and performed the official duties of the Chatelaine. Unlike a viceregal consort, however, Lilias Massey was not addressed as Her Excellency.
caption: The Countess of Bessborough (right), viceregal consort of Canada, with her husband, the Earl of Bessborough, in their official photograph as governor general and viceregal consort of Canada, 1933
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