Born January 12th, 1942
Died August 2nd, 2025
Hilary Mary Weston, who has died at 83 at home after a short illness, was the Irish-born wife of the late Galen Weston, billionaire scion of the Anglo-Canadian business dynasty who controlled ABC Foods, Selfridges in London, Brown Thomas in Dublin and Holt Renfrew in Canada among other interests.
A former model, Hilary became the 26th lieutenant governor of Ontario in 1997, the second woman in its history and the first Irish person, having been invited by prime minister Jean Chretien to run for the post.
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The appointment, involving constitutional, ceremonial and social duties, was initially criticised for being made solely for her social connections. She went on to prove her critics wrong, beginning five years of formal and informal activities championing social causes.
[ From the archives: At home with Hilary WestonOpens in new window ]
Well-known for her many philanthropic projects and community services, she founded the Hilary Weston Foundation for Youth and the Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation. The latter committed close to $150 million (about €93 million) since 2021 supporting organisations dedicated to healthcare and research, refugee settlements, arts and culture as well as funding scholarships for students of sustainability in TCD as well as at the Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge.
An avid reader, Hilary was also the author of three books, including two gardening best-sellers, and initiated two trust prizes, one for Canadian literary nonfiction and the other honouring international nonfiction writing. Her many awards and honorary degrees for public service and philanthropy included the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario.
She was born in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, in 1942, the eldest of five children of Michael Frayne, a shopkeeper and musician, and his wife, Elizabeth Noel Guerrini.
After her father’s early death in 1960, when she was 16, she left school at Loreto Abbey in Dalkey to work as a model to support her family, early evidence of a sense of responsibility and duty that remained throughout her life.
She became well-known as a muse for fashion designer Sybil Connolly, who took her to the US to model her couture collections; and the designer Irene Gilbert, with whom she modelled with schoolfriend Cecily McMenamin.
In 1963, following university, the 21-year-old Galen Weston, who had come to Dublin to pursue business interests, spotted Hilary on a Dublin billboard modelling hot pants. Through the auctioneer Corrie Buckley, a date was arranged for them to meet at a dinner party. “He had a terrible cold, and I remember we managed to persuade him to have a hot toddy. Well, I think he had rather too many hot toddies,” she later recalled with amusement in this newspaper.
In July 1966, they were engaged and married in England. That marriage was to last more than 50 years, until Galen’s death in 2021, aged 80.
When Galen bought the Dublin department stores Todd Burns in 1969 and Brown Thomas (the latter as a wedding gift for Hilary), she became involved in every aspect of the business. Working together was the great bond in their marriage.
Initially she started a boutique in Todd Burns (in what later became Penneys) called City Girl, selling a range of inexpensive dresses, many of which she sewed herself, with new items every week.
They were a golden couple, young, glamorous, forward-looking and international in outlook, and they wanted Brown Thomas to reflect the changing times and be the best department store in Europe.
Cecily McMenamin became fashion director (and godmother to Hilary’s daughter Alannah) introducing international brands such as Yves St Laurent, Armani and Sonia Rykiel to her Private Lives boutique in the store.
When Galen was recalled to Canada in 1974 to rescue the food retailer Loblaws, the Westons moved there with their two small children, twins Alannah and Galen jnr. Initially, the transition to the other side of the Atlantic was difficult for one unused to the freezing winters and being so far away from home.
But she eventually took Canadian citizenship and, building on her experience of Brown Thomas, became vice-chairwoman of the Holt Renfrew chain in Canada while still supervising the Dublin store. “Her work ethic was incredible,” says her daughter, Alannah, “no matter what country she was in and whatever needed to be done whether it was in Canada, Florida, Ireland or the UK. She was a perfectionist with great attention to detail and design.”
In 1979 she founded the Ireland Fund of Canada at the instigation of Ireland Fund of America chairman Dan Rooney, former ambassador to Ireland and Tony O’Reilly arising out of her desire to help Ireland during tough times.
The Westons were to experience their own share of the Troubles when an attempt to kidnap them from their 19th-century estate, Roundwood Park in Wicklow (former home of Irish president Sean T Ó Ceallaigh) was foiled by gardaí in 1983.
The Westons were not at home at the time – Galen was playing polo at Windsor with Prince Charles, but it subsequently led them to sell the house and keep a low media profile for many years – Hilary did not speak publicly about the trauma until 1990.
She kept him grounded because she used to say she was the eldest of five and he was the youngest of nine
— Their daughter, Alannah, on Galen and Hilary Weston
Ongoing projects continued over the years; with her passion for gardens, design, architecture and love of art, she and her husband developed Windsor, a wealthy resort community in Vero Beach, Florida, with golf course and polo field, while maintaining a house in Toronto, where visiting members of the British royal family sometimes stayed.
“She was an autodidact and learnt everything herself, whether it was about abstract art, gardening, business or government,” says Alannah. “She always set the bar very high and had a lot of faith, confidence, enormous strength and the ability to take on challenges. Being Irish was so much part of what she was.”
People who knew her speak of her warmth, curiosity, commitment, love of partying and magnetic personality.
Her favourite designers were Alexander McQueen, Dior and Valentino, says Shelly Corkery, former Brown Thomas director of womenswear. She was the first Canadian to be included in Vanity Fair’s The International Best Dressed Hall of Fame.
She wore McQueen to her son’s engagement party, her daughter Alannah’s wedding and her husband’s 75th birthday party, the last two taking place at Fort Belvedere, the former home of King Edward VIII, which the Westons lease from the British crown.
Galen “was completely devoted to her,” says Alannah. “They never had a night apart. If he had a meeting in London, he would return to Canada that night to be with her. She kept him grounded because she used to say she was the eldest of five and he was the youngest of nine.”
During her term as lieutenant governor of Ontario, she made 628 speeches and hosted more than 600 receptions, including state visits by Nelson Mandela and the presidents of China, Greece, Portugal, Romania and the Philippines, maintaining throughout her life a busy schedule of activities. She also built important collections of Irish art, including works by Jack B Yeats, Walter Osborne and William Leech, as well as collections of ceramics.
Hilary Weston is survived by her daughter, Alannah; her son, Galen jnr; grandchildren, Maia, Lola, Graydon and Griffin; her sisters, Deirdre and Josephine; and brother Robert. Another brother, John, predeceased her. A state funeral will be held in Toronto.
