Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Simeon Borisov of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Tsar Simeon II (Bulgarian: Симеон Борисов Сакскобургготски, transl. Simeon Borisov Sakskoburggotski; Цар Симеон II; German: Simeon von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha or Simeon von Wettin) or Simeon II of Bulgaria (born 16 June 1937) is an important political and royal figure in Bulgaria. During his reign as the Tsar of Bulgaria from 1943 to 1946 he was a minor, the monarchical authority being exercised over the kingdom on his behalf by a regency. The regents were Simeon's uncle Prince Kiril of Bulgaria, General Nikola Mihov and the prime minister, Bogdan Filov. In 1946 the monarchy was overthrown as a consequence of a greatly manipulated referendum won by the communist republicans. Simeon went into exile. Fifty-five years later, on 6 April 2001, Simeon resumed the role of leader of the nation upon taking office as Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria from July 2001 until August 2005.

As of 2012, Simeon is one of the last living heads of state from the World War II-era, the only living person who has borne the Bulgarian title "Tsar", and one of the few monarchs in history to have become the head of government through democratic elections.

Royal History

Simeon was born the son of Tsar Boris III and Tsaritsa Giovanna di Savoia and is related to various European royalty, including Queen Elizabeth II, King Albert II of the Belgians and the Kings Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Umberto II of Italy. Following his birth, Boris III sent an air force officer to the River Jordan to obtain water for Simeon's baptism in the Orthodox faith. He became Tsar on 28 August 1943 on the death of his father, who had just returned to Bulgaria from a meeting with Adolf Hitler. Since Tsar Simeon was only six years old when he ascended the throne, his uncle Prince Kyril of Bulgaria, Prime Minister Bogdan Filov, and Lieutenant-General Nikola Mihailov Mihov of the Bulgarian Army were appointed regents.

On 5 September 1944 the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria and three days later the Red Army entered the country without encountering resistance. On the next day, 9 September 1944, Prince Kyril and the other regents were deposed by a Soviet-backed coup and arrested. The three regents, all members of the last three governments, Parliament deputies, heads of the army and eminent journalists were executed by the Communists in February 1945.

Towards exile

The royal family (Queen Giovanna, Simeon II, and his sister Maria-Louisa) remained at Vrana Palace near Sofia, while new communist regents were appointed. In her memoirs, Queen Giovanna recounts that Soviet soldiers at that time entertained themselves by shooting at random in the direction where she was walking with the children. On 15 September 1946, a plebiscite was held in the presence of the Soviet army. It allegedly resulted in over 97% approval for the Soviet established republic and abolished the monarchy. On 16 September 1946, the royal family was exiled from Bulgaria. However, Simeon II never signed any abdication papers (which were unlikely to have any legality anyway, as he was only 9 years old). The royal family first went to Alexandria, Egypt, where Queen Giovanna's father Victor Emanuel III, King of Italy, lived in exile. There, Simeon II finished Victoria College (along with Crown Prince Leka of Albania). In July 1951, the Spanish government of Francisco Franco granted asylum to the family.

Education and business career

In Madrid, Simeon studied at the Lycée Français, but did not graduate. On 16 June 1955, upon turning 18, in accordance with the Tarnovo Constitution Simeon II read his proclamation to the Bulgarian people as the Tsar of Bulgaria, confirming his will to be king of all Bulgarians and follow the principles of Tarnovo Constitution and free Bulgaria. In 1958, he enrolled at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in the United States, where he was known as "Cadet Rylski No. 6883", and graduated as a second lieutenant. Once again in Spain, Simeon studied law and business administration.

He became a businessman. For thirteen years, he was chairman of the Spanish subsidiary of Thomson, a French defence and electronics group. He was also an adviser in the banking, hotel, electronics, and catering sectors.

Monarch in exile

Simeon issued several political declarations during his exile through his "chancellery" in Madrid directed at the Communist regime in Bulgaria and his exiled compatriots. His early attempts at forming an official government in exile did not come to fruition, however.[citation needed]

Marriage and family

In 1962 Simeon married a Spanish aristocrat, doña Margarita Gómez-Acebo y Cejuela. The couple have five children – four sons (Kardam, Kiril, Kubrat and Konstantin) and a daughter, Kalina, all of whom subsequently married Spaniards. All of his sons received names of Bulgarian kings.

    * Kardam (born 1962) married doña Miriam de Ungría y López. They have two sons, Boris and Beltran.

    * Kirill (born 1964) married doña María del Rosario Nadal y Fuster-Puigdórfila. They have two daughters, Mafalda and Olimpia, and one son, Tassilo.

    * Kubrat (born 1965) married doña Carla María de la Soledad Royo-Villanova y Urrestarazu. They have three sons: Mirko, Lukás and Tirso.

    * Konstantin-Assen (born 1967) married doña María García de la Rasilla y Gortázar. They have twins, Umberto and Sofia.

    * Kalina (born 1972) married don Antonio "Kitín" Muñoz y Valcárcel. They have one son, Simeon Hassan.

Political return

In 1990, after the fall of communism, Simeon was issued a new Bulgarian passport. In 1996, 50 years after the abolition of the monarchy, Simeon returned to Bulgaria and was met in many places by crowds cheering: "We want our King!" He did not, at that point, make any political announcements or moves.

Various estates in Bulgaria that had been nationalized under the republic were returned to Simeon and his family. In 2001, Simeon announced he would return to Bulgaria to form a new political party, the National Movement Simeon II (NMSII), dedicated to "reforms and political integrity." Simeon promised that in 800 days the Bulgarian people would feel tangible positive effects of his government and would enjoy significantly higher standards of living.

NMSII won a large victory in the parliamentary elections held on 17 June 2001, capturing 120 of the 240 seats in Parliament and defeating the two main pre-existing political parties. Simeon gave an oath as Prime Minister of Bulgaria on 24 July, forming a coalition with the ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). He gave ministerial positions in his government mainly to technocrats and Western-educated economic specialists. In 2002, his efforts were recognized by his receiving the 2002 Path to Peace Award from the Path to Peace Foundation. The development of Bulgaria's capital markets moved forward, with the first Eurolev issue in 2004. During his time in power, Bulgaria joined NATO and EC.

In the 2005 elections, Simeon's party ranked second and participated in the grand coalition government with the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. Simeon II was given the unofficial ceremonial post of Chairman of the Coalition Council.

The party got just 3.01% of votes and no seats at the parliamentary elections of 2009. Shortly after, on 6 July, Simeon also resigned as NMSII leader .

Views on restoration of the Bulgarian Monarchy

Simeon II has never renounced his royal claim to the Bulgarian throne. He used the title "Tsar of the Bulgarians" in his political statements during his exile. Since his return to Bulgaria, however, Simeon has consistently declined to reveal his views on the restoration of the Bulgarian monarchy. Upon taking office as prime minister, he took an oath to protect the country's republican Constitution.

Heir to the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry

After the death of his distant cousin Prince John Henry of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in April 2010 and due to the exclusion of the late prince's uncle Philipp Josias Maria Joseph Ignatius Michael Gabriel Raphael Gonzaga (Walterskirchen, 18 August 1901 –) children and descendants from his morganatic marriage with Sarah Aurelia Halasz, Simeon became the Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry, former Magnates of Hungary, and a claimant to the holding of the castles of Čabraď and Sv. Anton, both in modern day Slovakia, lost to Czechoslovakia in 1921. In early 2012 he ceded his rights to the headship of the princely house of Koháry to his sister Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Tuheitia Paki

Tuheitia Paki, KStJ (born 21 April 1955) is the current Māori King in New Zealand. He is the eldest son of the previous Māori monarch, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, and was announced as her successor and crowned on the same day as her tangihanga (funeral rites) took place, on 21 August 2006. His official title has not yet been decided but it is understood it will not be Te Arikinui (the great leader / chief), his mother's title.

He was educated at Rakaumanga School in Huntly, Southwell School in Hamilton and St Stephen's College in Bombay.

On 27 November 2007, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of St John, which was upgraded to a Knight in 2010.

Family

Tuheitia Paki's father, the late Whatumoana Paki, and his mother, the late Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, married in 1952. He is married to Te Atawhai and has three children: Whatumoana, Korotangi, and Ngawai Hono I Te Po. He has five sisters and one brother: Heeni Katipa (née Paki) Tomairangi Paki, Mihi ki te ao Paki, Kiki Soloman (née Paki), Manawa Clarkson (née Paki) and lastly his younger brother Maharaia Paki.[citation needed] After Paki's assent to the throne, Te Atawhai was appointed patroness of the Māori Women's Welfare League in 2007.

In 2011 Korotangi Paki, Tuheitia's middle child and youngest son was involved in a car accident after which he was charged with boy racer charges.

Duties and background

Prior to becoming King, he was the Tainui Cultural Advisor to Te Wānanga o Aotearoa at Huntly.

He only speaks publicly once a year, at the annual celebrations in Ngaruawahia of his coronation. Since ascending to the throne official duties include:

    * attending the funeral of King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga, September 2006

    * attending the opening of Pūkawa Marae on the shore of Lake Taupo, Aotearoa, on 17–19 November 2006.

    * attending the opening of "Mauri Ora" an exhibition of Māori artefacts from Te Papa on exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum in Tokyo, Japan on 22 January 2007.

    * attending the funeral of Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa, 19 May 2007

    * attending the re-opening of the marae/war memorial hall in Ngaiotonga, Whangaruru 2007

    * attending the opening of the Māori garden in Hamilton gardens, 2008.

Political issues

In March 2010, the King threatened to abdicate his title if tribal members "do not fall back into line." He made the announcement after members of the tribe's parliament, Te Kauhanganui, questioned his use of tribal funds and his choice of company directors. His office denied that he mentioned abdication. At the heart of the allegations is the spending of Paki's office which has risen to an annual $1.2 million compared to $250,000 under his mother, with much of the spending going on travel. The funds are provided by Tainui, which has assets worth more than $600 million.

In December 2010 he attempted to sack the Te Kauhanganui chairperson Tania Martin, Hiiona Marae's elected representative on Te Kauhanganui in connection with a report which she tabled detailing financial issues, however, the constitutional rules of Tainui's Parliament only allow for Te Kauhanganui itself to elect or remove its chairperson.[citation needed] As of January 2011, Mrs Martin remains the chairperson of Te Kauhanganui, having been reaffirmed by a vote.

In March 2011, issues arose over travel expenses for Te Makau Ariki Atawhai and Te Ariki Tamaroa Whatumoana, Paki's consort and son.

In June 2011, David Rankin of the Ngāpuhi iwi attacked both Paki and the Governments' use of the term Māori King to describe him, saying that not only had tribes such as Ngāpuhi never supported the kingitanga movement, but that Paki didn't even speak te reo Māori.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Te Atairangikaahu

Dame Te Atairangikaahu, ONZ, DBE, OStJ (23 July 1931–15 August 2006) was the Māori queen for 40 years, the longest reign of any Māori monarch. Her full name and title was Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu. Her title Te Arikinui (meaning Paramount Chief) and name Te Atairangikaahu (meaning the hawk of the morning sky) were bestowed when she became monarch; previously she was known as Princess Piki Mahuta and, after marriage, Princess Piki Paki.

Life

She was the only birth child of Korokī Mahuta and Te Atairangikaahu Hērangi; her father had an older daughter, Tuura, by an earlier relationship. Dame Te Atairangikaahu had adopted siblings including Sir Robert Mahuta, whose daughter Nanaia Mahuta is a member of Parliament. Dame Te Atairangikaahu was a descendant of the first Māori king, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, and succeeded her father, King Korokī, becoming queen the day Korokī was buried. She attended Rakaumanga Primary School and Hamilton Diocesan School for Girls.

In 1952, she married Whatumoana Paki who was from the Northern tribe of Te Aupouri. They had seven children: Tuheitia Paki, Heeni Katipa (née Paki), Tomairangi Paki, Kiki Soloman (née Paki), Mihi Gabrielle Paki, Maharaia Paki, and Te Manawanui Clarkson (née Paki).

The office of the Māori monarch holds no pakeha constitutional function,however it is the paramount head of the Waikato federation of tribes with its parliament. In addition to this Te Atairangikaahu was an avid supporter of Maori cultural and sporting events and played an active role in local and global political events involving indigenous issues.

Her official residence was Turongo House in the Turangawaewae Marae complex coupled with Mahinarangi (official reception room for receiving dignitaries) and Raukawa iti(official guest house).

In 1970, she became the first Māori to be made a Dame, specifically a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She was the first inductee of the Order of New Zealand when it was established in 1987 with her medal bearing the number 1. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Waikato University in 1973, and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Victoria University in 1999.

In December 2005, she started dialysis treatment when her kidneys began to fail. On 11 July 2006, she suffered a possible heart attack and was admitted to intensive care in Waikato Hospital, Hamilton. She was discharged from hospital later in the month, in time to celebrate her 75th birthday.

Te Atairangikaahu died on 15 August 2006, aged 75, at her official residence, Turangawaewae Marae in Ngaruawahia. Six of her seven children were present, with one daughter en route from Australia.

Her death sparked a week of mourning for Māoridom leading to her funeral on 21 August 2006. She is buried on Taupiri mountain in an unmarked grave, as are her ancestors, as a sign of equality with their people. Queen Elizabeth II send her condolences. Her husband, Whatumoana Paki, had wanted a tombstone for his wife, but members of the royal family do not have grave markings. Instead, Paki paid tribute to his wife by planting a breed of purple roses, named specifically for Te Atairangikaahu, around a memorial stone outside their home.

She and her husband had resided at their official residence at Waahi Marae in Huntly, New Zealand, during her reign. He continued to live at the residence with his son until his death in 2011.

Succession

Tuheitia Paki, her eldest son, was chosen during the mourning period as her successor with the help of a "kingmaker", after the consent of the chiefs of all the leading tribes was sought. Her eldest child, daughter Heeni Katipa, was the next leading contender for the position.

As an elective monarchy, the position is not automatically inherited by primogeniture (Te Atairangikaahu herself was her father's second daughter, though the eldest was not born to his wife), so any one of her children or a leading figure from another iwi could have been appointed.

Tainui are the guardians of the Kiingitanga by consent of the other tribes. Therefore it could have gone to another tribe...however the general feeling was Tainui own the position. Although not a position granted by primogeniture...convention has now made it so.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Malietoa Tanumafili II

Malietoa Tanumafili II, GCMG, CBE (4 January 1913 – 11 May 2007), also called Susuga, was the Malietoa, the title of one of Samoa's four paramount chiefs, and the head of state, or O le Ao o le Malo, a position that he held for life, of Samoa from 1962 to 2007. He was co-chief of state in 1962 and became the sole head of state on 15 April 1963. At the time of his death, he was the oldest national leader in the world.

Early and personal life

He was born in 1913 as the son and third child of his parents, Malietoa Tanumafili I and Momoe Lupeuluiva Meleisea. He became the Mālietoa in 1940 following his father's death in 1939.

Tanumafili was educated at the government run Leififi School in Samoa. He went on to enroll at St. Stephen's School and Wesley College in Pukekohe, both of which are in New Zealand. Malietoa was an active athlete during his younger years. His favorite sports included boxing, rugby and cricket. Malietoa's interest in sports continued throughout his life and he was an avid golfer well into his 90s. He could often be seen driving his golf cart around Samoa.

His wife, Lili Tunu, died in 1986. Tanumafili had nine surviving children at the time of his death in 2007: Su'a Vainuupo, Faamausili Moli, Papali'itele Titiuatoa, Papali'itele Ioane, Papali'itele Douglas (sons) and Seiuli Tutai, Lola Tosi and Momoe (daughters). One child died in infancy, while his sons, Papaliitele Eti,died in 2005, Papali'itele Molioo Laupepa, died in 1985.

Malietoa Tanumafili II was a follower of the Bahá'í Faith. He was the second royal (after Queen Marie of Romania) to be a member of that religion. The Bahá'í House of Worship in Tiapapata, eight kilometers from the country's capital of Apia, was dedicated by him in 1984.

Public life

Tanumafili officially inherited the royal title of Malietoa in 1940, following the 1939 death of his father, Malietoa Tanumafili I, though some media reports claim that he received the title of Malietoa in 1939. Soon after becoming Malietoa, he was appointed to serve as a special adviser, also called Fautua, to the New Zealand administration and governor of Samoa, known as the New Zealand Trusteeship of Samoa, until independence in 1962.

Upon Samoa's independence in 1962, Malietoa Tanumafili II became joint O le Ao o le Malo, or head of state, with Tupua Tamasese Mea'ole. Tanumafili and Mea'ole would rule jointly as head of state for just 16 months. When Mea'ole died in 1963, Tanumafili became the sole Samoan head of state, a post he held for life until his death in 2007. He is often credited for providing much of the stability that Samoa has enjoyed post independence.

Malietoa traveled extensively during his reign as the Samoan head of state (O le Ao o le Malo). He traveled to the People's Republic of China for an official state visit in 1976. Additionally, during his reign he also visited Australia, Fiji, Hawai'i, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Tonga, the United Kingdom and the former West Germany. Malietoa Tanumafili was among the foreign dignitaries who attended the funeral of Japanese Emperor Showa in 1989.

Malietoa Tanumafili II was described as the last survivor of a generation of important Pacific leaders who guided their countries and peoples from colonialism to independence. His death was the latest in a string of recent, high profile passings of members of this Pacific generation of leaders, which included the late Fijian president, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, the King of Tonga, Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, and New Zealand's Maori Queen, Dame Te Atairangikaahu.

Death

Malietoa Tanumafili II died at 6:45 P.M. on Friday 11 May 2007, at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole National Hospital at Moto'otua in Apia, Samoa. He was being treated as a patient for pneumonia at the hospital for approximately a week. The cause of his death was from a heart attack.

His death was announced by Samoan Secretary of State Vaasatia Poloma Komiti on SBC TV1. "It is with deepest regret that we inform you of the passing of our Head of State Malietoa Tanumafili II."

Malietoa Tanumafili II was the world's third longest reigning living monarch at the time of his death in May 2007 after Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has reigned since 1946 and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 1952.

Funeral

Samoa entered a state of official mourning from the time of the Malietoa's death until his official funeral. All Samoan flags were lowered to half mast in his honour and remembrance. According to tradition, thousands of Samoans were expected to wear white and black as a sign of respect for the Malietoa from 15 May until his state funeral on May 18. The government of Samoa encouraged traditional Samoan dress for the funeral. Samoans were requested specifically to wear "a black lavalava or sulu and a white top with traditional elei patterns." Samoans were also asked to include the teuila flower, the national flower of Samoa, with their mourning attire.

Malietoa Tanumafili II's body was taken from a private funeral home (Ligaliga Funeral) to his residence at Fa'ato'ialemanu on 16 May, which marked the beginning of his funeral services. Hundreds of the Malietoa's close and extended relatives, including his children, attended a special private family service that night.

The State funeral was a rare occasion when ancient rituals and exchanges were made to the Sa Malietoa (the national political 'family' or clan from which the Malietoa title belongs). Traditional cultural presentations (or Si'i Fa'atupu) from other districts and clans from within Samoa were made and ancient funeral rites were performed. The delegation (or auala) from Lufilufi, representing the TuiAtua, circled the Maota of Malietoa at Faatoialemanu where the late Malietoa lay in state, chanting the ancient funeral chants associated with the district of Atua and its relationship with the district of Tuamasaga (where the Malietoa is the paramount title). Traditional delegations representing the Tongan Royal Family and the Fijian Great Council of Chiefs also made cultural presentations to reflect the ancient genealogical ties between Samoa and her southern neighbours Tonga and Fiji.

The major village of the Malietoa title, Malie, played a major role in funeral ceremonies and exchanges. The 'aumaga (untitled men) of Malie, called the Aumaga a Laauli, and the 'aumaga (untitled men) of Falealili, called the Manu Samoa, provided hundreds of traditional guards in and around the compounds where the Malietoa lay in state. They also patrolled the roads around Faatoialemanu and provided escorting duties whenever the body was moved. On the day of the funeral the grounds of Tiafau Malae where the funeral was held were guarded by 300 men of the Aumaga a Laauli. Presiding over the body was the Salelesi (the ancient 'dog' of the Malietoa, from the village of Salelesi (District of Atua). His role is to guard the body and escort it into the tomb. All villages in the District of Tuamasaga and other villages connected to the Malietoa title cut palm leaves and branches of hundreds of coconut trees and laid them by the side of main roads in an ancient mark of mourning for the death of a paramount chief.

His body was then moved to the Samoan Parliament to lie in state on 17 May.

His funeral was held on 18 May in Apia.

Honours

Queen Elizabeth II visited Samoa for a single day in 1977 as part of her visit to the South Pacific on board the Royal Yacht Britannia. While in Samoa, Elizabeth presented Malietoa with the Collar Badge and Star of a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George.

Also bestowed on Malietoa was the title of Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire during his life.

From : www.wikipedia.org

George Tupou V

George Tupou V (Tongan: Siaosi Tupou V, full name: Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho Tupou V), (born 4 May 1948) is the current King of Tonga.

Early life

Tupou V was born on 4 May 1948. He is the eldest son of the late King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV (b. 1918 - d. 2006), and Queen Halaevalu Mataʻaho ʻAhomeʻe (b. 1926). He was appointed Crown Prince on 4 May 1966. In daily life, he was better known by one of his traditional chiefly titles Tupoutoʻa.

The king attended primary school in Switzerland and secondary school at King's College in Auckland and The Leys School in Cambridge, and went on to study at Oxford University and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England.

Crown Prince

As Crown Prince, Tupoutoʻa 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/Tonfön. 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 riots scared potential buyers from making a deal.

Personal life

The King is unmarried, and has a daughter born out of marriage, 'Ilima Lei Fifita Tohi (born 1974). She married police officer Tulutulumafua i'Olotele Kalaniuvalu in 1997, and has three children. According to the Constitution of Tonga, ʻIlima is ineligible to inherit the throne, as only children born within Royal marriage may take the throne.

King

Tupou V was sworn in as King on 11 September 2006, which also made him, from a traditional viewpoint, the 23rd Tuʻi Kanokupolu (the overlords of Tongatapu).

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 Malaʻe 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 Tuʻi 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 pigs 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, coronation ceremony took place on 1 August 2008 in the Centennial Chapel, Nuku’alofa. In an elaborate spectacle, the Anglican Archbishop of Polynesia Jabez Bryce 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. Royalty and nobility from around the world was in attendance.

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 Minister'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 judges and commute prison sentences. The King also sold off lucrative business interests as part of the announcement. In addition, the King announced that there would be parliamentary reform and elections in 2010. Fielakepa, the spokesman for the royal palace, said, "The Sovereign of the only Polynesian kingdom ... is voluntarily surrendering his powers to meet the democratic aspirations of many of his people ... [The people] favour a more representative, elected Parliament. The king agrees with them."

In July 2010 the government published a new electoral roll and called Tonga's 101,900 citizens to add their names to the document so that they can take part in the historic vote, which was due to be held on 25 November. He would remain head of state, but lose his executive powers, including the ability to appoint the prime minister and ministers. However, it seemed certain that the Monarch would continue to appoint and administer the Judiciary of Tonga for the purposes of assuring political independence and neutrality is retained.

On September 15, 2011, he received the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic from Pál Schmitt, the president of Hungary.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV

Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV, King of Tonga, GCMG, GCVO, KBE, KStJ (4 July 1918 – 10 September 2006) 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. He was married to Queen Halaevalu Mataʻaho ʻAhomeʻe, born in 1926, and the couple had four children:

    * Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho Tupou, while as Crown Prince, better known by the hereditary title: Tupoutoʻa (once his father did not need it any longer). He succeeded him later as George Tupou V.

    * Princess Royal Sālote Mafileʻo Pilolevu Tuita (born Tukuʻaho)

    * Prince Fatafehi ʻAlaivahamamaʻo Tukuʻaho (stripped of his title after marrying a commoner, later bestowed with the hereditary title of Māʻatu, deceased 2004)

    * Prince ʻAhoʻeitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho better known by his traditional titles: Tupoutoʻa Lavaka (until the death of his father known as: ʻUlukālala Lavaka Ata).

The King's full baptismal name was Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Tupoulahi, but he was soon better known by the traditional title reserved for Crown Princes: Tupoutoʻa, (bestowed in 1937) later replaced by the title he inherited from his father: Tungī (or using both: Tupoutoʻa-Tungī, in that time written as Tuboutoʻa-Tugi). He kept the Tungī title until his death. From a traditional point of view he was not only the Tungī, which is the direct descendent from the Tuʻi Haʻatakalaua, but he was also, on becoming king, the 22nd Tuʻi Kanokupolu. The link with the Tuʻi Tonga, was more indirect. He was not a Tuʻi Tonga too (as that office has gone over into the Kalaniuvalu line), but his grandmother Lavinia Veiongo (wife of George Tupou II) was the great-granddaughter of Laufilitonga, the last Tuʻi Tonga, and his wife Halaevalu Mataʻaho (not to be confused with the King's wife of the same name and same family), who was the daughter of Tupou ʻAhomeʻe, who was the daughter of Lātūfuipeka, the Tamahā (sister of the Tuʻi Tonga). By consequence, the King's daughter, Pilolevu, was the first woman in Tongan culture to really have the blood of the three major Royal dynasties in her veins and become the highest ranking person ever.

The King was a keen sportsman and religious preacher in his youth, he was educated at Newington College and studied Law at Sydney University while resident at Wesley College in Sydney, Australia. He was appointed Minister of Education by Queen Sālote in 1943, Minister of Health in 1944, and in 1949, Premier. He remained a lay preacher of the Free Wesleyan Church until his death, and in some circumstances, was empowered to appoint an acting church president. In the 1970s, he was the heaviest monarch in the world, weighing in at over 200 kg (440 pounds or 31 stones). For his visits to Germany, the German Government used to commission special chairs that could support his weight. The King used to take them home, considering them as state presents. In the 1990s, he took part in a national fitness campaign, losing a third of his weight.

The King was also quite tall, standing 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m).

He wielded great political authority and influence in Tonga's essentially aristocratic system of government, together with the country's nobles, who control 70% of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga. His involvement in an investment scandal, however, involving his appointed court jester Jesse Bogdonoff, had in his last years embroiled the King in controversy, and led to calls for greater government transparency and democratisation. In 2005, the government spent several weeks negotiating with striking civil service workers before reaching a settlement. The king's nephew, Tuʻi Pelehake (ʻUluvalu), served as mediator. A constitutional commission presented a series of recommendations for constitutional reform to the King a few weeks before his death.

On 15 August 2006, Tongan Prime Minister Feleti Sevele interrupted radio and television broadcasts to announce that the King was gravely ill in the Mercy Hospital in Auckland and to ask the 104,000 people of the island chain to pray for their King, but he died almost a month later, at 23:34 on 10 September 2006 (New Zealand time: it was just after midnight on 11 September in Tongan time). He was 88 and had reigned for 41 years.

Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV was buried on 19 September 2006 at Malaʻe Kula (the Royal cemetery) in the Tongan capital, Nukuʻalofa. Thousands of Tongans watched the funeral and mourners included many foreign dignitaries, including Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, Vanuatu president Kalkot Mataskelekele, the American Samoan Governor Togiola Tulafono, Niue Premier Vivian Young, and the Duke of Gloucester, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. The funeral blended Christian and ancient Polynesian burial rites. The funeral was overseen by the Royal undertaker Lauaki and his men of the Haʻatufunga (clan), also known as the nima tapu (sacred hands).

According to the International Herald Tribune, "Tupou IV's 41-year reign made him one of the world's longest-serving sovereigns, after Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Samoa's head of state Malietoa Tanumafili II."

From : www,wikipedia.org