Tupou VI of Tonga

Tupou with his two sons; the princes Tupouto'a 'Ulukala and Viliami Tukushaho

T$ 10 coin with the face of the Monarch.

ʻAhoʻeitu Tupou VI of Tonga (ʻAhoʻeitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho; Nukualofa 12 July 1959) is the current king of Tonga. He acceded to the throne on March 18, 2012, following the death of his older brother, King George Tupou V.

He was Prime Minister of Tonga, serving from January 3, 2000 to February 11, 2006. He also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from October 1998 to August 2004 and Minister of Defense from that date. until September 2004. He served as High Commissioner of Tonga to Australia (residing in Canberra) until his accession as sovereign.

Early years and education

He was born on July 12, 1959 in the Royal Palace of Nuku'alofa, as the fourth child and third son of the crown princes Tupoutoʻa-Tungī – who later became King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV – and Halaevalu Mataʻaho ʻAhomeʻe. At the time of his birth he was the eleventh grandson of Queen Salote Tupou III and her husband Viliami Tungī Mailefihi.

He was educated at The Leys School, Cambridge between 1973 and 1977. Subsequently, he entered the University of East Anglia, where he studied Development Studies between 1977 and 1980. He began his military career as part of the Royal Tongan Navy of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in 1982, and in 1987 he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. In 1988 he earned a bachelor's degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. From 1990 to 1995 he led PPB Voea Pangai carrying out peacekeeping duties in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. In 1997 he obtained a master's degree in defense studies from the University of New South Wales, and in 1999 a master's degree in international relations from Bond University. In turn, he returned to Tonga to perform royal duties, ending his military career.

Public life

On his return to Tonga in the late 1990s, he was appointed ministerial minister of defense and foreign affairs, positions held by his older brother, the then crown prince (Tupoutoʻa'.) At the beginning In 2000 he was appointed his father's prime minister, and held the position until his resignation on February 11, 2006 amid strikes and protests in favor of a democratic regime; He was succeeded by Feleti Sevele. In September of that year, his father died, and his brother ascended the throne as George Tupou V, so he became crown prince since the new monarch was single and had no money. legitimate descent: he was granted the title Tupoutoʻa, while he renounced the titles 'Ulukalala and Ata, which were granted to their two sons respectively.

Between 2008 and 2012 he served as High Commissioner of Tonga to Australia, and from 2010 as non-resident ambassador to Japan. He remained in both positions until his ascension to the throne in 2012. In 2013 he was appointed chancellor of the University of the South Pacific.

Reign

Succession and coronation

On March 20, 2012, through a statement from the Prime Minister's office, the death of King George Tupou V was announced, while he was admitted to a hospital in Hong Kong. Prince Tupoutoʻa Lavaka became king at the time, but was formally proclaimed on March 19 by the Privy Council, adopting the name Tupou VI.

The coronation ceremony of Kings Tupou VI and Nanasipau'u took place on July 4, 2015 at the Centenary Church in Nuku'alofa. It was officiated by the Reverend D'Arcy Wood, a retired minister of the United Church of Australia, who was assisted by the Reverends 'Ahio and Tevita Havea, president and general secretary of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga. The monarch was anointed with holy oil, and presented with a ring and scepter, in addition to the royal crown with which he was crowned by Wood, since no Togan can touch the head of his king. Approximately 15 thousand people arrived in the country to take part in the celebrations, which lasted a total of eleven days, beginning a week before the religious rite with the taumafa kava – ancestral enthronement ceremony in which the monarch drinks kava together with the main nobles –, in which he was installed as the 24th Tu'i Kanokupolu.

Among those invited to the coronation were: the crown princes of Japan Naruhito and Masako; the president of French Polynesia Édouard Fritch, of Fiji 'Epeli Nailatikau and of Nauru, Baron Waqa; the governor general of New Zealand Jerry Mateparae and that of the Solomon Islands, Frank Kabui.

Marriage and offspring

ʻAhoʻeitu is married to his second cousin, Nanasipauʻu Tukuʻaho, daughter of Baron Vaea of Houma, and his wife, Baroness Tuputupu Vaea of Houma (née Tuputupukipulotu Lausiʻi). They were married in the Royal Chapel of Nukuʻalofa, on December 11, 1982.

The couple has had three children:

• Her Royal Highness Princess Lātūfuipeka Tukuaho (born November 17, 1983 in Nukualofa). He replaced his father as Tonga's high commissioner for Australia when he ascended to the throne.
• Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince Tupobundutoa Ubundlukala (born September 17, 1985 in Nukualofa).
  He contracted marriage in the Centenary Methodist Church of Nukualofa on 12 July 2012 with his second double cousin, Sinaitakala Fakafānua, daughter of Dr. Kinikinilau Fakafānua, VII noble Fakafānua, and of his wife, Princess λOfeina of Tonga, Lady Fakafānua, both cousins of King Tupou VI. They have four children in common:
  • Your Royal Highness Prince Taufaahau Manumataongo (born May 10, 2013 in Auckland).
  • Your Royal Highness Princess Halaevalu Mataaho Tukumadaho (born July 14, 2014 in Auckland).
  • Your Royal Highness Princess Nanasipauḳu Eliana Tukumadaho (born March 20, 2018 in Auckland)
  • Your Royal Highness Princess Salote Mafile Pieo Pilolevu (born February 25, 2021 in Canberra).
• Your Royal Highness Prince Ata (born on 27 April 1988 in Nukualofa). It happened to his father in the title Prince Ata when he ascended to the throne.

Title and treatments

• 12 July 1959 – 11 September 2006: Your Royal Highness the prince ONE ONE ONE ONE
• 11 September 2006 – 18 March 2012: Your Royal Highness Prince Tupoutomana Lavaka
• 18 March 2012 - present: Your Majesty the King of Tonga

His official title is "His Majesty, Ahoʻeitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho Tupou VI, by the Grace of God, King of Tonga."

Honorary distinctions

Tongan honorary distinctions

• Sovereign Grand Master of the Order of the Crown of Tonga (18/03/2012).
• Sovereign Grand Master of the Royal Order of King George Tupou I (18/03/2012).
• Sovereign Grand Master of the Royal Order of Pouono (18/03/2012).
• Sovereign Grand Master of the Most High Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III (18/03/2012).
• Sovereign Grand Master of the Order of the Royal House of Tonga (18/03/2012).
• Sovereign Grand Master of the Royal Military Order of Saint George (18/03/2012).
• Sovereign Grand Master of the Order of the Phoenix of Tonga (18/03/2012).
• Sovereign Grand Master of the Royal Order of Oceania (18/03/2012).
• Conmemorative Medal of the Coronation of Jorge Tupou V (01/08/2008).
• General Defence Service Medal of Tonga (04/07/1995).
• Tupou IV Jubilee Memorial Medal (04/07/1992).
• Tonga Defense Medal for Long Service and Good Conduct.

Ancestors

Predecessor: Siaosi Tupou V	King of Tonga 18 March 2012 - Presente	Successor: Position
Predecessor: Baron Vaea	Prime Minister of Tonga 2000-2006	Successor: Feleti Sevele