George Tupou V (
TonganTongan is an Austronesian language spoken in Tonga. It has around 100,000 speakers and is a national language of Tonga. It is a VSO language.-Related languages:...
:
Siaosi Tupou V, full name:
Siaosi Tāufaāhau Manumataongo Tukuaho Tupou V), (born 4 May 1948) is the current King of
TongaTonga , officially the Kingdom of Tonga , an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprises 169 islands, 36 of which are inhabited, and stretches over a distance of about 800 kilometres in a north-south line...
.
Early life
Tupou V is the eldest son of the late King
Tāufaāhau Tupou IVTāufaāhau Tupou IV, King of Tonga, GCMG, GCVO, KBE, KStJ son of Queen Sālote Tupou III and her consort Prince Viliami Tungī Mailefihi, was the king of Tonga from the death of his mother in 1965 until his own death in 2006...
, and was appointed
Crown PrinceA Crown Prince or Crown Princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
on 4 May 1966. In daily life, he was better known by one of his traditional chiefly titles
Tupoutoa.
The king attended primary school in
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
and secondary school at
King's CollegeKing's College is an independent secondary school in New Zealand. It was originally a boys-only school but now also admits girls in the sixth and seventh forms . The school has strong links to the Anglican church; the Anglican Bishop of Auckland and the Dean of Auckland are permanent members of the...
in
AucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with a population approaching 1.4 million residents, percent of the country's population. Demographic trends indicate that it will continue to grow faster than the rest...
and
The Leys SchoolThe Leys School is a co-educational Independent school, located in Cambridge, England, and is both a day school and boarding school for over 520 pupils aged between 11 and 18 years...
in Cambridge
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4419058.ece, and went on to study at Oxford University and the
Royal Military Academy SandhurstThe Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is the British Army officer initial training centre...
in England.
Crown Prince
As Crown Prince, Tupoutoa held great influence in Tongan politics, and was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1979 to 1998. He has substantial business interests in Tonga and abroad, and is co-chairman of the Shoreline Group/
TonfönTonfön is a Tongan telecommunications company, founded in 2002 by its chairman, Tupoutoa. It operates as a division of the Shoreline Group of Companies. No one knows why a diaeresis is placed on the second 'o'...
. As king, his first proclamation was that he would dispose of all his business assets as soon as reasonably possible, and in accordance with the law. Tonfön has since been sold, but the King was unable to get rid of the remainder of the Shoreline Group after the
2006 Nuku'alofa riotsThe 2006 Nukualofa riots started on November 16, in the Tongan capital of Nukualofa. The Legislative Assembly of Tonga was due to adjourn for the year and despite promises of action, had done little to advance democracy in the government. A mixed crowd of democracy advocates took to the streets in...
scared potential buyers from making a deal.
Personal life
The King is unmarried and has no children recognised as successors. He has, however, a daughter born out of marriage,
Ilima Lei Tohi300px|right|thumb|Ilima participating in a traditional Tongan [[ma'ulu'ulu|māuluulu]] dance.Ilima Lei Fifita Tohi , also known since her marriage as 'Ilimalei Kalaniuvalu, is the illegitimate daughter of King George Tupou V of Tonga....
and, through her, is already a grandfather. According to the constitution of Tonga, Ilima is ineligible to
inherit the throneThe order of succession to the throne of Tonga is laid down in the 1875 constitution of the south Pacific island nation. This constitution specifies that the succession is confined to the descendants of King Siaosi Tāufaāhau Tupou I, through his son Crown Prince Tēvita Unga and his son Prince...
.
King
Tupou V was sworn in as King on 11 September 2006, which also made him, from a traditional viewpoint, the 23rd
Tui KanokupoluIn Tonga, the Tui Kanokupolu is a title held by the chief of the House of Tupou, currently the Royal House of Tonga. Kanokupolu is the name of a village in Hihifo district, which probably was Ngata's residence when he was still a governor under his father Mounga o Tonga of the Tui Haatakalaua...
(the overlords of
TongatapuTongatapu is the main island of the Kingdom of Tonga and the location of its capital Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with approximately 71,260 residents , 70.5% of the national population...
).
Coronation ceremony
The ceremonial aspects of Tupou V's accession to the throne took place in July/August 2008. These were initially to be held in 2007, after the official mourning period for his father (6 months for close relatives) and his own birthday but, after the 2006 Tonga riots, he decided to focus on the reconstruction of the destroyed capital.
During a week of celebrations, two key ceremonies took place to mark Tupou's coronation.
On 30 July 2008, a Taumafa Kava ceremony (royal kava ring) was held on Malae Pangai, the open space to the east of the Royal Palace. During the ceremony the King sat on a pile of handwoven pandanus mats on an open pavilion facing the sea, while more than 200 Tongan nobles and chiefs dressed in woven skirts and sea shells circled him. He wore the traditional Tongan ta'ovala woven mat skirt and a garland of flowers.
During this ceremony, Tupou V was formally recognised as the Tui Kanokupolu, and the rightful descendent of King George Tupou I who united Tonga in the 19th century. The ceremony involved the presentation of kava to the King and assembled chiefs and nobles. Presentations of hundreds of baskets of food as well as 70 cooked
pigPigs are a genus of even-toed ungulates within the family Suidae. The name hog most commonly refers to the domestic pig in everyday parlance, but technically encompasses several distinct species, including the wild boar...
s were made.
School children held 30,000 torches on this night to proclaim Tupou V's coronation to the world. A tupakapakanava, or traditional torch spectacle, an ancient honour accorded only to the monarch and the royal family, was held later at a spot overlooking the Pacific.
A formal, European-style,
coronationA coronation is a ceremony marking the investiture of a monarch or their consort with regal power, specifically involving the placement of a crown upon his or her head, and the presentation of other items of regalia...
ceremony took place on 1 August 2008 in the Centennial Chapel, Nuku’alofa. In an elaborate spectacle, the Anglican
ArchbishopIn Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. In many Christian Churches, this means that they lead a diocese of particular importance called an archdiocese, or in the Anglican Communion an Ecclesiastical Province, but this is not always the case. An archbishop is equivalent to a bishop in...
of Polynesia
Jabez BryceJabez Bryce is a Tonga-born leader in the Anglican Church. From 1975 he has been the Bishop of Polynesia in the Province of New Zealand, which includes most of the South Pacific. From 2006 he was Archbishop and Co-presiding Bishop, and from 2008 also Primate, Tikanga Pasefika, of the Anglican...
invested Tupou V with the Tongan regalia, including the ring, sceptre and sword, and in the culmination of the ceremony, placed the Tongan Crown on his head.
Relinquishing authority
Three days before his coronation on 1 August 2008, the King announced that he would relinquish most of his power and be guided by his
Prime MinisterThis is a list of Prime Ministers of Tonga from the establishment of that office in 1876 until the present day.-External links:*...
's recommendations on most matters. The Prime Minister would also be in charge of day-to-day affairs. Tupou will still have the powers to appoint
judgeA judge, or arbiter of justice, is a lead official who presides over a court of law, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is like an umpire in a game and...
s and
commute prison sentencesCommutation of sentence involves the reduction of legal penalties, especially in terms of imprisonment. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not nullify the conviction and is often conditional. Clemency is a similar term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime...
. The King also sold off lucrative business interests as part of the announcement. In addition, the King announced that there will be parliamentary reform and elections in 2010. Fielakepa, the spokesman for the royal palace, said, "The Sovereign of the only
PolynesiaPolynesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean.-Definition:...
n kingdom ... is voluntarily surrendering his powers to meet the democratic aspirations of many of his people ... [The people] favour a more representative, elected
ParliamentThe Legislative Assembly or Fale Alea of Tonga has 30 members, 9 members elected for a three year term in multi-seat constituencies, 9 members elected for a three year term by the 33 hereditary nobles of Tonga, 10 members of the Privy Council and 2 governors. The Assembly is controlled by the royal...
. The king agrees with them."
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