While Clarkson's appointment as the Canadian vicereine was generally welcomed at first, she caused some controversy during her time serving as the Queen's representative, mostly due to costs incurred in the operation of her office, as well as a somewhat anti-monarchist attitude toward the position.

During her time there, Clarkson won a Governor General's Medal in English before graduating in 1960 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours in the subject, and then travelling with her parents to East and Southeast Asia.

The series did, however, allow her to travel extensively outside of Canada, as she recorded segments for the show in locations such as South Africa (where she interviewed Nadine Gordimer and Helen Suzman), and her native Hong Kong.

She focused on investigative journalism and gained prominence after an in-depth study of the McCain family's business practices led a Senator to publicly accuse her of being un-naturalised.

Throughout the 1990s—during which time she also wrote and produced films, such as The Lust In His Eye: Visions of James Wilson Morrice and Borduas and Me and Artemisia[8]—there was much speculation that Clarkson would soon be given a high level appointment by the Queen-in-Council.

[11] Clarkson was the first visible minority and refugee to be appointed governor general, and the second woman (after Jeanne Sauvé), the first Chinese Canadian, and the first without a military or political background.

But, the event that the media mostly focused on was Clarkson's 2003, 19-day circumpolar "northern identity" tour, which included state visits to Russia, Finland, and Iceland, and the attendance of 50 other Canadians prominent in the fields of arts, culture, and science.

[20] All together, this resulted in some politicians calling for the role of the governor general to be reduced or even for the position to be eliminated, and a poll taken late in 2003 found a majority of respondents thought Clarkson was "too grand" for the office.

[20] Still, though the Office of the Governor General defended the tour as successful, particularly with regard to the warm reception Clarkson received in Russia and during her meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, and it was the Department of Foreign Affairs that commissioned and paid for the trip with funds approved by parliament.

When the end cost for the trips came in at CAD$5 million, a scheduled continuation of the tour that would have included visits to Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Greenland was scrapped by the federal government in early 2004.

Not only should she have been defended publicly, we were made to look foolish in the eyes of the countries who had to be informed that the trip to such great allies as Sweden, Norway and Denmark (plus its province of Greenland) was called off".

[23][24] Clarkson waited until less than two weeks after the end of her time serving as governor general before she publicly criticised Jean Chrétien and the Cabinet under his chairmanship for not defending the viceregal office, and reaffirmed that she had been asked by the Department of Foreign Affairs to take each of her state trips in the first place.

[25] At the same time, Clarkson's unorthodox mode of exercising the Office of the Governor General led to negative critiques of how she carried out a number of ceremonial duties.

[28] At Remembrance Day ceremonies, the Governor General also caused a stir when she eschewed the tradition of placing the first wreath at the cenotaph in favour of doing so simultaneously with her husband; a practice that was discontinued by Clarkson's viceregal successor.

She was on a goodwill tour of a poor area of the city; however, the protesters argued that her visit was nothing more than a publicity stunt to try to gain some of her lost popular support to get her time in office extended.

[29][30] Rideau Hall issued a statement saying the Governor General was, at the time, abroad representing Canada at the inauguration of the President of Ukraine, Victor Yushchenko.

Though the decision was met with mixed feelings from across the country,[31] Prime Minister Martin had advised the Queen to retain Clarkson as her vicereine in order to provide stability while the country faced potential constitutional difficulties arising from a minority government; there had been speculation at the end of 2004 over whether or not Clarkson would have to become directly involved in politics should the Cabinet led by Paul Martin lose the confidence of the House of Commons, leaving the Governor General to decide whether or not to ask the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, then Stephen Harper, to form a government, or to call a general election.

To coincide with that year's 50th anniversary of the appointment of the first Canadian-born governor general, Clarkson moved Order of Canada investitures from their typical location in Rideau Hall to various places around the country.

Then, on September 15, 2005, Clarkson announced the creation of the Governor General's Northern Medal, to be awarded annually to a citizen whose actions and achievements had contributed to the evolution and constant reaffirmation of the Canadian North as part of the national identity.

[33] During her last days in office, Clarkson's popularity with the Armed Forces was expressed in a large farewell ceremony mounted by the military; the first ever such send-off for a governor general.

[22] Other summaries of Clarkson's time as governor general, however, found that the increased travel abroad attracted negative attention to the viceregal post over costs and caused conflict between domestic duties and foreign obligations.

Also, it was observed that Clarkson had succumbed too easily to the desires of her advisors— both in the prime minister's and Privy Council offices, as well as amongst the staff of Government House— to turn the viceregal post into something it was not: Canada's head of state.

Clarkson had expressed admiration for the Queen, was said to understand "the lustre the Crown affords," and to have "shudder[ed] a little in sympathy with members of the Royal Family at the degree of intrusion into their lives they must bear.

"[17] But the systematic downplaying of the monarch led to confusion over who was head of state and there was a sense that,[29] by taking this view, Clarkson and her office were overturning the long-standing theory that all the viceroys and their respective jurisdictions are equal under a sovereign who reigns consistently over the whole country.

[42] The Monarchist League of Canada even reported that a member of parliament had telephoned to ask if they had ever before heard of the eruption of booing at the mention of the governor general's name, as had apparently happened in the MP's riding when Clarkson was spoken about.

The book was met with mixed reviews, however,[n 2] and her expressed opinion that future nominees for appointment as governor general should be voted on in the House of Commons was condemned by monarchists, though supported by Macleans.

[47] Though a University of Toronto political scientist stated this would "strengthen the legitimacy of the governor-general as a non-partisan umpire," the editorial board of the Montreal Gazette said that the position being "not elected is an asset, not a handicap" and Clarkson's process would undermine the impartiality of the viceroy.

[48] Clarkson was on February 7, 2007, appointed by the Queen as Colonel-in-Chief of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, replacing the Countess Mountbatten of Burma, and commented that she was "deeply honoured" and proud to accept the role.