Teacher Discussion Forums

When officially addressing an honorable woman,
is it always 'Her...' and not 'His...'?
1. Her Excellency Anne Jones
Ambassador of COUNTRY NAME
(never His Excellency Anne Jones?)
2. Her Grace the Duchess of PLACE NAME
(never His Grace the Duchess of...?)
Thank you.

Hello Itasan,
I believe so, yes. For instance we say "Her Majesty" to address the Queens of England or the Netherlands. Interestingly, however, there is a case in British English ( I don't know if this is true of other varieties of English) where a woman is sometimes addressed by her husband's name, for example "Mr and Mrs James Bond". I'm married to a German girl and she finds it very ammusing (and sometimes a little annoying ) when letters addressed to us in this way arrive from the UK .

BW
Macavity