Tongan king dies during HK visit
WELLINGTON: Tonga’s King George Tupou V, who gave up most of his powers to bring a more democratic government to his Pacific island nation, has died. He was 63.
Tongan Prime Minister Lord Siale’ataonga Tu’ivakano said in a brief radio address yesterday that the king died at 3pm on Sunday during a visit to Hong Kong.
He did not give the cause of death, but said further details and funeral plans would be released when available.
The prime minister said the king’s younger brother and heir to the throne, Crown Prince Tupouto’a Lavaka, was at the king’s side when he died.
He declared that the royal family and entire nation was in mourning.
Paula Mau, a spokesman for the Tongan government, said the king had been travelling in Europe and elsewhere since late November and appeared healthy in photographs taken a few weeks ago when he met with the pope in the Vatican.
Mau said the king underwent an operation in the United States last year to remove cancer.
Mau said the king was a bachelor who had a daughter out of wedlock – but that she did not have a claim to the throne under Tonga’s constitution, which recognises only children born in wedlock as legitimate heirs.
Tupou reigned over the island nation of 106,000 since his father, King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV, died in 2006. The father long resisted ceding any powers during his four-decade rule.
But after his death, rioters unhappy with the pace of reforms took to the streets and destroyed the centre of the capital.
Against that backdrop, the new king delayed his official coronation until 2008 while he put together the framework for sweeping political reforms.
Three days before the coronation ceremony, Tupou announced he was ceding most of his executive powers to a democratically elected parliament. The king remains head of state, and some parliament seats are reserved for nobility.