The future Crown Princess of Tonga, Sinaitakala Fakafanua, was born on 20 March 1987 as the daughter of Kinikinilau Tūtoatasi Fakafānua, 7th Lord Fakafānua and Princess Sinaitakala ‘Ofeina-‘e-he-Langi Fakafānua. Her father died in 2006, and her brother, Fatafehi Fakafanua, became the 8th Lord Fakafānua. She also had another brother named Fakaola mei Langi ʻItafuaʻatonga Tūtoatasi Fakafānua. Her mother is a daughter of Queen Sālote Tupou III’s youngest son, Prince Fatafehi Tuʻipelehake. This means she is distantly in the line of succession in her own right.
Sinaitakala Fakafanua worked as a teacher until 2012, when she married her double second cousin, Crown Prince Tupoutoʻa ʻUlukalala. Their wedding was the first of a Tongan Crown Prince in 65 years, but it was not without controversy. According to Tongan royal protocol, members of the royal family must marry nobles, and marriages are always arranged. Politician ’Akilisi Pohiva said, “They are too close. I do not know about the biological effects of two close bloods mixed together, but I think they need new blood from outside.”1
Even members of the royal family were critical. Princess Salote Mafile’o Pilolevu Tuita, Lady Tuita, said that the system of arranged marriages was “extremely arrogant and only perpetuated the motive behind social climbers.”2 The King’s mother and sister were reportedly absent from the wedding.3 The match was reportedly arranged by the current King’s wife, and the Crown Prince’s mother, Queen Nanasipauʻu Tukuʻaho/4
Nevertheless, the wedding went ahead on 12 July 2012. Sinaitakala Fakafanua fell pregnant quickly, and a son and heir named Prince Taufaʻahau Manumataongo was born on 10 May 2013. Three daughters followed: Princess Halaevalu Mataʻaho (born 2014), Princess Nanasipauʻu Eliana (born 2018) and Princess Salote Mafile’o Pilolevu (born 2021).
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