The Year of Queen Sālote Tupou III – Her accession

In early 1917, Princess Sālote’s father became ill, and it was clear that he was declining quickly.

Around this time, a suitor for Sālote was settled on, and he met with the approval of the Privy Council, the public and the royal family. His name was Tungī Mailefihi.

They were married on 19 September 1917. A press report stated, “The Princess, in choosing her trousseau, showed a weakness for pastel tints, especially in blues and pinks. Lace, silver, and pearls play an important part in the adornment scheme of her bridal apparel. The wedding gown has a fashionable court train, which is 5 1/2 yards long and 3 yards wide. The elaborate gown is of Brussels lace over white silk taffeta and ninon with a pointed tunic of white crêpe de Chine. Silver and pearls edge the tunic, which is caught with silver tassels. Ivory white brocaded satin has been used for the court train, which is lined with white ninon and edged with innumerable frills of malines lace and ninon, and finished at the corners with silver leaves and orange blossoms. The bodice is of rich lace and silk with a trail of orange blossoms and silver leaves on the left shoulder. The whole is stitched with silver according to the bride’s wish, and the stitchery shows a gleam of silver through the lace mesh.”¹ The Tongan tu’ uvala ceremony was celebrated two days later.

The newlyweds went to Latai, where they would spend some time living. Sālote was pregnant by October, but her husband had to leave her behind to return to his duties as governor of Vava’u. Meanwhile, her father’s health steadily declined. He had been unable to attend the opening of parliament. The Chief Medical Officier of Fiji, who was sent by the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, arrived in December 1917 and confirmed the diagnosis of tuberculosis. Clearly, the King did not have much time left, but Tongan custom prohibited this being stated publicly.

Sālote travelled to visit him during the summer of 1917/1918 at his house at I on the southeastern part of the island. It was a tiring journey for the pregnant Sālote, and her worried husband wrote to her, “I am glad you are there to look after the sick man [the King]. Even though you cannot do much for him, the important thing is the comfort you give him. I am very sorry that I cannot help him, but I am reassured that you are there.²

At the end of the summer, her father returned from I to the Royal Palace. Sālote celebrated her 18th birthday on 13 March. Her father died in the early hours of 5 April 1918.

The New Zealand Herald reported, “News was received in Auckland last night to the effect that King George Tupou II of Tonga died of tuberculosis at his island home in the morning of Friday, April 5, and was buried in state the following Wednesday. The King, who was 44 years of age [sic], had been ailing for some time, and a few months ago, the government medical adviser from Fiji visited Tonga in the steam yacht Ranadi to attend him. The medical officer then stated that the disease had shown signs of development, but after treatment, he expressed the opinion that it had been arrested in time. Death, however, came suddenly, as the King was rising from bed, on April 5.”³

Sālote was now Queen. In the afternoon of the day of her father’s death, a short meeting of the Privy Council confirmed Sālote as her father’s successor and discussed the funeral details. The Privy Council met again the following morning. Sālote took her oath of office, and the ministers swore allegiance to her. That same day, her succession was proclaimed at the Mala’e Pangai, the field adjacent to the Royal Palace. Two days later, the nobles and chiefs from Ha’apai and Vava’u⁴ arrived to swear their allegiance. This included Sālote’s husband, Tungī.

The Royal Palace could not be used until water was sprinkled in all of the rooms. This was done on 1 May, and in the meantime, Sālote slept in the Royal Chapel on the palace grounds. Due to custom, she and her husband could not move into the palace until the mourning period was over. Some floors and walls were eventually replaced to allow Sālote to give birth at the palace before the mourning period was over.⁵

Following her accession, the only Tongan person she could eat with was her husband, and she returned to his house to eat and bathe.

On 10 April, the funeral took place, and Sālote joined her stepmother Takipō in the procession; both were “heavily veiled.”⁶ The late King was interred next to King George Tupou I, his first wife and Sālote’s mother, Lavinia, his father, Siaosi Tuʻipelehake and Sālote’s infant half-sister, Princess ʻOnelua.

Sālote declared that there was to be a six-month period of mourning, which was significantly longer than usual. The coronation would take place after this mourning period, but Sālote immediately took up the royal duties required of her. Sālote later lamented, “I didn’t know the first thing about government.”⁷

1. Sālote: Queen of Paradise by Margaret Hixon p.70
2. Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.45
3. The New Zealand Herald
4. Both are groups of islands
5. Sālote: Queen of Paradise by Margaret Hixon p.78
6. Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.48
7. Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem p.48