George Tupou V.
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George Tupou V. ( Tongan Siaosi Tupou V. , full name Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho Tupou V .; born May 4, 1948 in Tongatapu ; † March 18, 2012 in Hong Kong ) was Tongan king from 2006 until his death .
Life
He was the eldest son of his predecessor, King Taufaʻahau Tupou IV. After studying law at Oxford , he trained at the Sandhurst Military Academy in Great Britain. On May 4, 1966, he was named Crown Prince of the South Pacific island state. As such, he had a strong influence on Tonga's politics, including between 1979 and 1998 the position of Foreign Minister . After that he was u. a. Chairman of the board of the state-owned tourism company and an energy company. As crown prince he was referred to with his tribal title Tupoutoʻa . On September 11, 2006, after the death of his father, he was proclaimed the new King of Tonga; the coronation took place on August 1, 2008. Three days before the ceremony, the unpopular George Tupou V announced that he would hand over government power to parliament. He only wanted to take on representative tasks. The proposals of a constitutional and electoral law commission set up for this purpose were only partially implemented: the king retained the right to dissolve parliament and to veto laws.
As Crown Prince, he caused a sensation with the plan to sell the entire genetic material of his future subjects to an Australian biotechnology company. The unmarried monarch was considered a playboy . According to official information, his illegitimate daughter 'Ilima Lei Tohi is excluded from the throne; thus his younger brother ʻAhoʻeitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho was the crown prince and is now his successor as king.
King George Tupou V died on March 18, 2012 in a Hong Kong hospital. A few weeks earlier, in February 2012, he had visited Europe and was, among other things, on an official state visit by Pope Benedict XVI. received in the Vatican.
literature
- Jane Phare: The madness of King George of Tonga . The New Zealand Herald , September 17, 2006.
Web links
- Official website of the royal family of Tonga ( Memento from August 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ King of Tonga dies in Hong Kong hospital: Report
- ↑ Tonga's new king can be celebrated for days. Spiegel Online from August 1, 2008.
- ↑ L´Osservatore Romano, February 24, 2012
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | George Tupou V. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho Tupou; Siaosi Tupou V. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | tongan king |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 4, 1948 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | on Tongatapu |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 18, 2012 |
| Place of death | Hong Kong |