The Year of Queen Sālote Tupou III – Halaevalu Mataʻaho ʻAhomeʻe, Queen Sālote’s daughter-in-law

Halaevalu Mataʻaho ʻAhomeʻe was born on 29 May 1926 as the daughter of the Hon. Tevita Manu-’o-pangai ‘Ahome’e and Heuʻifanga Veikune. Her father held the posts of Governor of Vava’u and Ha’apai and Minister for Police. Her mother was a great-granddaughter of the last King of the Tuʻi Tonga Empire.

She received her education at St Joseph’s Convent School in Nuku’alofa and St Mary’s College in Auckland.

Mataʻaho was reportedly spotted by her future husband in 1945 when she was helping to serve food during the centenary celebrations, and he decided that she should be his wife. He was the eldest son of Queen Sālote Tupou III of Tonga, and he was then known as Tupoutoʻa Tungī. At the same time, his younger brother, Prince Fatafehi Tu’ipelehake, also selected a bride, Melenaite Tupoumoheofo Veikune.

Queen Sālote arranged for a double wedding so that there would be less of a burden on the people. Mataʻaho was 21 at the time, while her future husband was 28. They were also third cousins.

The double wedding was held between 10 and 12 June 1947. The European ceremony was held on 10 June, followed by the Tonga ceremony on 12 June. The two couples were married by A.E. McKay, President of the Free Wesleyan Church in the Royal Chapel. They were blessed by Rodger Page and John Burton, President-General of the Methodist Church of Australasia.

Mataʻaho and her new husband went to live at Pikula, which had once been inhabited by the Queen’s grandfather and was just two kilometres from the Royal Palace. The other couple moved into the palace with the Queen, who was delighted to have two daughters.

Both women fell pregnant quickly after the wedding and gave birth within days of each other the following May. Mataʻaho gave birth to the future King George Tupou V on 4 May 1948. Mataʻaho gave birth to three more children: Princess Sālote Mafileʻo Pilolevu Tuku’aho (born 1951), Prince Fatafehi ʻAlaivahamamaʻo Tukuʻaho (born 1954) and the future King Tupou VI (born 1959).

In 1950, Mataʻaho and her husband visited Australia to study the latest advances in agriculture. He eventually wanted to test the plantation of peanuts in Tonga.¹

Mataʻaho travelled with her mother-in-law to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in London in 1953. She was introduced to Queen Elizabeth II during a garden party at Buckingham Palace.² Mataʻaho and her mother-in-law left separately and were also seated separately during the ceremony.³ After the coronation, Mataʻaho and Sālote went on a two-week tour of Scotland, the Isle of Man and Ireland. The Queen was eventually so fatigued that Mataʻaho filled in for her at the planting of a commemorative oak tree in Windsor Great Park.⁴

The trip wasn’t quite over yet, and they then travelled to Paris and Rome, where she and Sālote had an audience with the Pope. Sālote received a gold medal from the Pope in memory of the visit, while Mataʻaho received a bronze medal.⁵  The last stop was Naples before the royal party boarded the Orontes on 23 July.

By 1958, Mataʻaho’s two eldest children were enrolled at school in New Zealand.

Mataʻaho became Queen consort of Tonga upon the death of her mother-in-law in the early hours of 16 December 1965. Mataʻaho and her husband travelled to Auckland as Queen Sālote’s health deteriorated quickly, but delays meant that they were not there when she died.

Following a period of mourning, their coronation took place on 4 July 1967, which was also the new King’s birthday. The coronation took place in the Royal Chapel, which seated only 80 people, and many people stood outside. After the King’s solemn crowning, a small crown was placed on Mataʻaho’s head. She was reportedly weeping quietly.⁶ Following the ceremony, Mataʻaho and her husband reviewed a procession of more than 10,000 schoolchildren before going inside to receive the guests.

Rumours about their children’s possible partners arose by the late 60s, but their eldest son ended up never marrying, although he did father an illegitimate daughter.⁷

Their daughter, Princess Sālote Mafileʻo Pilolevu Tuku’aho, married Siosaʻia Maʻulupekotofa Tuita in 1976, and they went on to have five children together. Their second son, Prince Fatafehi ʻAlaivahamamaʻo Tukuʻaho, caused a scandal in 1980 when he married a commoner named Heimataura Salmon Anderson in Hawaii against his father’s wishes.⁸ Following his wedding, he and his possible heirs were removed from the Tongan line of succession. Heimataura died five years later, and the Prince returned to Tonga, where he married Alaileula Poutasi Jungblut in 1989. Their youngest son, who would eventually succeed his elder brother as King, married Nanasipauʻu Vaea in 1982, and they have three children together.

Mataʻaho and her husband attended the wedding of the then Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 and gifted them black coral jewellery and two hand-sewn saddles.⁹ Mataʻaho often went with her husband when he made visits abroad. In addition to her royal duties, she also devoted her time to the Red Cross and the Alonga Disabled Centre.

Mataʻaho was widowed on 10 September 2006 when her husband died at the Mercy Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand, where he had been receiving medical attention. He was 88 years old and had reigned for 41 years. Mataʻaho was reportedly by his side when he died.¹⁰ He was succeeded by their eldest son, who became King George Tupou V.

Their son would rule for just 5,5 years, and he died on 18 March 2012 in Hong Kong with his younger brother and heir by his side.¹¹ Louise Waterhouse, Tonga’s Honorary Consul in Sydney, later wrote, “When her son, his late majesty George Tupou V, passed away unexpectedly in 2012, we comforted each other in the most tender way. I felt her pain at losing her beloved son, and she felt my pain at losing my best friend.¹²

On 19 February 2017, Mataʻaho died at the age of 90. The cause of her death was not revealed, but she was in New Zealand for a minor medical issue.

In tribute, Louise Waterhouse wrote, “She devoted her life to her country and her family – a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother‎ and great-grandmother, and a rich life of giving for more than nine decades.”¹³

1. The King of Tonga by Nelson Eustis p.122
2. Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.241
3. Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.242
4. Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.246
5. Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.247
6. The King of Tonga by Nelson Eustis p.145
7. The madness of King George of Tonga
8. The King of Tonga by Nelson Eustis p.200
9. The King of Tonga by Nelson Eustis p.205
10. IHT
11. The Australian
12. Halaevalu Mata’aho ʻAhome’e, the Queen Mother of Tonga
13. Halaevalu Mata’aho ʻAhome’e, the Queen Mother of Tonga