On 4 November 1965, Queen Sālote departed Tonga to seek medical treatment for her cancer. It would be the last time she would see her beloved country.
By the mid-1950s, Sālote was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus.1 She would need to be monitored carefully, watch her diet and inject herself with insulin. At the time, not many people knew of her diagnosis.2 After her diagnosis, she often took longer periods of rest from her duties.
The Chief Medical Officer advised her to hire a full-time nurse, but she did not do this until 1964, when her eyesight deteriorated, and she had lost weight. At the end of 1964, she cut her hair and the following month, she left Tonga for Auckland. Shortly after, she was diagnosed with cancer of the bone and lungs. In April, she had lumps and a nail removed, and she had deep-ray treatment.
However, it soon became clear that little more could be done. She returned to Tonga on 15 May, looking much thinner and walking with a stick. She lived briefly at the Royal Palace, but in July, she moved in with her younger son and his wife, as their home was easier to navigate with a wheelchair. At the end of the month, the county celebrated that she had surpassed the reign of her ancestor, King George Tupou I. She returned home to the palace for that day and waved to the schoolchildren who marched through the grounds.3
Her sons urged her to return to New Zealand for treatment. On 19 October, she returned to the palace one last time. Three days later, Queen Elizabeth II appointed her Grand Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, making her the first woman in the British Empire to receive this honour. On 31 October, she received the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.4 Afterwards, she said, “I do not know what will happen, but it makes no difference. I have realised that the time may be short, and my thoughts have dwelt upon the approaching event. […]Long ago, I committed my life to Christ. My readiness is not my doing; I trust in the redeeming work of Jesus. Whenever the call comes, I am ready to answer my name.”5
On 4 November 1965, Queen Sālote travelled to Fiji on an aircraft specifically requested by Queen Elizabeth II from the government of New Zealand. Silent crowds sat by the side of the 21-kilometre-long road to Fua’amoto airport to watch the departure of their Queen. They could not speak openly about her coming death, but everyone knew that she was dying and that this would be the last time they would see her. She was photographed sitting in a wheelchair shortly before boarding the plane.
Another plane, another request from Queen Elizabeth II from the British Government, took her to Auckland, where she died the following month.
- Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.288
- Sālote: Queen of Paradise by Margaret Hixon p.134
- Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.288-289
- Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.289
- Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.289
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