International

Tonga Crowns First King In More Than Four Decades

Published August 2, 2008 at 1:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Tonga's King George Tupou V is led from an installation ceremony in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, on Wednesday. He was anointed the South Pacific's newest monarch in a centuries-old ritual that included receiving gifts of dozens of roasted pigs and slurping the mild narcotic, kava.

King George Tupou of the Pacific island nation of Tonga was crowned on Friday. It was the first coronation there in more than four decades.

The small nation — just a strip of islands east of Fiji — threw two ceremonies for the new king. The first one was a traditional "kava" celebration marked by offerings of pigs and the drinking of a mildly narcotic brew called kava. The second was a more Western affair — complete with gold scepter and white ermine fur cape. There was also a weeklong imperial bash featuring three coronation balls and a huge pig roast.

Tongans have been pushing for British-style democracy — there were mass protests in 2006 — but they also want to hold onto their 1,000-year-old royal tradition. The king has vowed to reform the government.

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Siua Lafitani, a Tongan journalist based in Australia, flew back for the fete and describes the festivities.