State funeral for Prince Fatafehi Tu‘ipelehake (77)

Kuo to ‘a e Pulonga ‘e Tonga–"a darkness has fallen over Tonga", was how matapules (talking chiefs) described the death of Prince Fatafehi Tu‘ipelehake K.B.E. (77) in Auckland, New Zealand on April 10. Within hours of the Prime Baron Vaea’s official announcement of the State Funeral on Radio Tonga on April 11, people throughout Tonga wore black clothes and funeral mats or ta‘ovala. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 14, no. 2, May 1999.