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Governor General-designate Louise Arbour was received by King Charles at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.
The meeting in London was a formality before Arbour is sworn in as the 31st Governor General at a ceremony at the Senate of Canada building next Monday.
Arbour was also invested as an extraordinary Commander of the Order of Military Merit, and Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces, according to a social media post by the official Governor General account.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on May 5 that Arbour, a former Supreme Court justice and international human rights expert, would become Governor General at the conclusion of Mary Simon’s term.
As well as serving as a judge in the Supreme Court of Ontario and the Court of Appeal for Ontario, Arbour also served as the chief prosecutor for the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the 1990s.
She is a Companion of the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian honour, and a Grande officière de l’Ordre national du Québec.
As Mary Simon’s time as Governor General comes to an end, Prime Minister Mark Carney said her legacy will ‘live on,’ particularly in her efforts to protect Indigenous Peoples in Canada. ‘Mary Simon’s service will not end with the last boxes leaving Rideau Hall,’ but with the long and deep legacy she is leaving behind, he said.
Arbour will give her first address to the nation as Governor General after swearing an oath of allegiance at Monday’s ceremony.
The Governor General is the federal representative of the King, Canada’s formal head of state. It is a largely ceremonial, non-partisan role, in which the Governor General acts on the advice of the prime minister and federal cabinet.
Meanwhile in Ottawa on Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney attended a farewell reception for Simon.
