Three more children would follow. Princess Sālote Mafileʻo Pilolevu Tuku’aho (born 1951), Prince Fatafehi ʻAlaivahamamaʻo Tukuʻaho (born 1954) and Prince ʻAho‘eitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho (born 1959).
In 1949, Queen Sālote announced that Prime Minister Solomone Ata was to retire, and she named the Crown Prince as Prime Minister in his place. He would hold this position for 16 years. Queen Sālote began to take long periods of rest from her royal duties, but the Crown Prince was tireless. He travelled a lot to learn more about how he could improve things in Tonga, and his role as Prime Minister also often took him away from his life in Tonga. In 1957, the Crown Prince received full control over the finances of Tonga – with the approval of the Queen and cabinet and his modernisation ideas went full steam ahead.
Meanwhile, his mother’s health was slowly deteriorating. She was diagnosed with diabetes, she had her teeth removed, and her eyesight worsened. At the end of 1964, she was diagnosed with bone and lung cancer. She underwent several treatments to try and prolong her life. She died on 16 December 1965 in a hospital in New Zealand. Tāufaʻāhau and his wife’s plane was delayed, and they arrived at the hospital two hours after his mother had passed away. He was proclaimed King that same day.
Following a period of mourning, the new King and Queen were crowned on 4 July 1967, which was also the King’s 49th birthday. The service closely followed that of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, although the spoken language was Tongan. From the United Kingdom, the Duke and Duchess of Kent represented the Queen. The coronation celebrations lasted an entire week. In 1968, the Treaty of Friendship with the United Kingdom ended with several arrangements. This was followed in 1970 by a visit from Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne. They celebrated Tonga’s independence and acceptance into the Commonwealth of Nations.
In 1975, the King led the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the Tongan Constitution. Among the celebrations was the unveiling of a new statue of Queen Sālote.
In 1977, Tāufaʻāhau’s daughter, Princess Sālote Mafileʻo Pilolevu, married Captain Maʻulupekotofa Tuita, who was the son of the Deputy Prime Minister. They left for England in October, where the Captain was enrolled in a course at Oxford. They went on to have four daughters together, and they also raised the Princess’s nephew. The wedding of Princess Sālote Mafileʻo Pilolevu stirred up rumours about the Crown Prince’s marital state, and there were even rumours of a double wedding. However, the King’s eldest son would remain unmarried. The King’s second son, Prince Fatafehi ʻAlaivahamamaʻo Tukuʻaho, scandalised the family by marrying a commoner, Heimataura Salmon Anderson, in 1980, against his father’s wishes. They managed to leave Tonga for Hawaii, where they received a lecture from Heimataura’s father. Nevertheless, the wedding went ahead in Hawaii.
The King promptly annulled the marriage and removed his second son and any heirs he may have from the line of succession. He was also no longer a Prince. The fairytale was short-lived, and Heimataura died of cancer in 1985. After this, Fatafehi ʻAlaivahamamaʻo Tukuʻaho returned to Tonga. He married ʻAlaileula Poutasi Jungblut in 1989, and they had four children together.
In 1981, the King and Queen attended the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer in London. There were soon more wedding bells in their future as their youngest son was going to marry Nanasipauʻu Vaea. The wedding took place on 11 December 1982. Celebrations lasted for six days. With no partner in sight for the Crown Prince, it seemed likely that Prince ʻAho‘eitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho would eventually succeed his brother. Prince ʻAho‘eitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho and Nanasipauʻu Vaea went on to have three children together.
As his family grew, the King remained as active as ever. In the 1990s, he became active in the literal sense and took part in a national fitness program, where he lost a lot of weight.
In 2006, the King became gravely ill. The Prime Minister interrupted radio and TV broadcasts to make this announcement and to ask the people of Tonga to pray for their King. He had been in poor health for quite some time. He was in Mercy Hospital in Auckland, where he died on 10 September 2006.
He was succeeded by his eldest son, who became King George Tupou V.
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