Queen Sālote had died on 16 December 1965 at 12.15 a.m. at Aotea Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. Her youngest son and his wife were with her, but the Crown Prince and Princess arrived two hours after the Queen died, after their plane was delayed. News reached Tonga through a radio broadcast at 10 a.m.
The people of Tonga began to prepare black clothing and mourning mats. On 16 December, the new King was proclaimed, and a six-month mourning period was declared.
In Auckland, Queen Sālote’s body was embalmed by the undertaker Sibuns of Newmarket, and she was dressed in a simple white nightgown, as per her own request.1 Her body was moved from the hospital to Government House on 17 December. From 18 to 20 December, there was a lying-in-state in the ballroom of Government House. Around 4,000 people came to pay their respects. Her coffin stood on a bier covered with purple cloth, and the standard of Tonga was draped over the foot of the coffin.2
Her household and 800 members of the Tongan community kept vigil at her coffin, and they sang and prayed during the night. If outsiders were present, they were quiet. They only sang quietly when a group of Waikato Maori led by Princess Piki (later the first Maori Queen – Te Atairangikaahu) came to hold tangi (formal crying) for her.3
On 18 December, the new King and Queen, along with the younger grandchildren, returned to Tonga ahead of the funeral. Her younger son, Prince Tu’ipelehake, and his wife, Princess Melenaite, along with the older grandchildren, waited to accompany the Queen on her final journey home.
On 20 December, Queen Sālote’s body was escorted to Whenuapai Airport, where a Royal New Zealand Air Force Hercules was waiting. It flew her, the family and her personal staff back to Tonga. A Maori haka was performed to mark her departure.
A hearse was waiting at Fua’amotu Airport, and the ground there was covered in bark cloth. The hearse drove slowly to the royal palace as mourners sat weeping by the road. Her body lay in state in the Royal Chapel from 20 December until the funeral on 23 December. During the nights at the Royal Chapel, the ceremony of takipō was held. Groups of people sat just beyond the palace walls, and each group burned a torch over clean sand onto which the sparks fell. At sunrise, the new King’s only daughter, Princess Pilolevu, ordered the torches to be extinguished.4
The funeral was conducted according to Christian tradition, with elements of Tongan customs incorporated. A group of royal undertakers made sure that all Tongan ceremonies were properly carried out.
On 23 December, the kauala (catafalque) was covered with mats and bark cloth. Around 200 men carried it one kilometre to the royal burial ground at Mala’e Kula. It was so heavy that they only carried it for short intervals, and carriers changed every time they stopped. The Queen’s casket was covered with the flag of Tonga, and as it was carried out of the Royal Chapel, bells began to toll and a 65-gun salute (one for each year of the Queen’s life) was fired from Mala’e Pangai. Her secretary recorded that “chiefly tears and commoner tears flowed – yes, and those of foreigners.”5\
The route of the procession was lined with mourners who sat quietly, dressed in black and waist-mats. A guard of honour led the procession, followed by the kauala and then the members of the royal family. Her grandsons, Prince Tāufaʻāhau and Prince ʻUluvalu, carried cushions with her British orders. 6
The funeral service was led by Reverend George Harris, the President of the Free Wesleyan Church. Minister Harold Wood said, “Our Queen showed her interest and affection to men, women and children, irrespective of family or church affiliation. It was astonishing that she knew the names of so many of her people and their special needs. Tonga was like a family because she was the mother of all her people.”7
The service ended with a hymn that had a special meaning for Queen Sālote since the death of her husband in 1941. Translated to English, it said, “Thanks be that I have known Him, When I was almost fainting, My understanding runs to Him, And takes shelter.”8
The actual burial was shielded from view by women holding up large mats around the burial place. It took 20 minutes to remove the stone from her husband’s vault and to inter Queen Sālote’s body. Mats and bark cloth were placed inside the vault for the coffin, and once the coffin was in place, the stone was put back into place. Only now were the women allowed to lower the mats. Afterwards, senior girls from Queen Sālote College placed floral wreaths on the tomb. The whole ceremony had taken three hours.
- Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.291
- Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.291
- Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.291
- Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.291
- Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.292
- Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.292
- Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.293
- Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.293
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