Photostory #306: Her Excellency, Madame Georges P. Vanier: Canada's Gracious First Lady

Photographers
Ted Grant , C. Marcil , Gar Lunney , W. [Bill] Lingard , Chris Lund
Maker
National Film Board of Canada
Release Date
March 6, 1962
Collection
CMCP fonds
Credit Line
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography fonds, National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives
Main Text
Her Excellency, Madame Georges P. Vanier, wife of the Queen's representative in Canada, has been first lady of the land since her husband became Governor General in 1959. During these years she has met thousands of people. Many remember her as a gracious hostess at state functions; others, as leader of a group of school children singing a we-want-a-holiday petition to His Excellency during a visit to a pulp mill. All remember her as a woman of vital character and warmth. For Madame Vanier, devoted mother of a daughter and four sons, is no less proud or fonds of her much larger family -- 18 million Canadians. She remembers her 1961 northern tour with her husband in terms of "those wonderful people", treasures a shawl given her by inmates of a Quebec women's prison whom she visited "because I wanted to". Happily, Madame Vanier's deep affection for people is mirrored by Canadians from coast to coast.
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