Australian Minister D'Arcy Woods Crowns King Tupou VI Of Tonga
In a formal ceremony in Saione Centanary Church, King Tupou VI of Tonga was officially crowned by an Australian Methodist Minister, Reverend Darcy Wood from the Uniting Church of Australia. This is done because in their culture, Tongans are forbidden from touching their King’s head.
In an interview in Pacific Beat, Reverend Wood said the Tongan coronation was modelled after the British ceremony. He was to crown the King first, then the Queen. Prayers are offered afterwards. Since touching the King’s head is a taboo for Tongans, people with Tongan connection but no Tongan blood are asked to do the honours of crowning the monarch.
When asked why he was chosen for the rites, the pastor speculated it might be because of his close association with the Tongans for past few years. His third sister, deceased, also happened to be a close friend of the current queen, Queen Nanasipau’u, and a biographer of the late Queen Sālote.
Aside from being crowned as King, the monarch also became the 24th person to be called Tu’i Kanokupolu, an ancient Tongan title. The 55-year-old ascended to the throne after the death of his brother, unmarried without heirs, King Tupou V in 2012.
According to ABC, King Tupou V, who had diabetes, was diagnosed with cancer in 2011. The next year, he died in Hong Kong Hospital. He was 63 years old.
He was famous for hosting a multi-million coronation ceremony, which included about 70 cooked whole pigs and numerous food baskets. Aside from being known for his lavishness, he was also known to be the first Tongan monarch to eradicate 165 years of feudal rule by instigating the country’s first elections back in 2010.
The coronation was witnessed and attended by various royalties around the world, including Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako of Japan, Sir Anthony Bailey and her Serene highness Princess Marie von Hohenberg, Lord Glen Arthur of the United Kingdom, and dignitaries and heads of states of Samoa, Republic of Fiji among others.
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