Салоте Тупоу III: Королева Тонги (1918–1965)

Queen of Tonga from 1918 to 1965

Sālote Tupou III (born Sālote Mafile‘o Pilolevu; 13 March 1900 – 16 December 1965) was Queen of Tonga from 1918 to her death in 1965. She reigned for nearly 48 years, longer than any other Tongan monarch. She was well known for her height, standing 6 ft 3 in (1.91 metres) tall in her prime.

Sālote (Charlotte) was born on 13 March 1900 in Tonga as the eldest daughter and heir of King George Tupou II of Tonga and his first wife Queen Lavinia Veiongo. She was baptized and named after her great grandmother Sālote Mafile‘o Pilolevu (daughter of George Tupou I). The young princess was the source of some hostility due to the nature of her parents' marriage. Her mother, Queen Lavinia, died from tuberculosis on 24 April 1902. After her death, the Chiefs in Tonga urged King George Tupou II for many years to remarry to produce a male heir. On 11 November 1909, when the King finally married the 16 year old ʻAnaseini Takipō (half sister of the rejected candidate 'Ofakivava'u' from the first search of a wife for the King), the chiefs were jubilant. Queen Anaseni gave birth twice, both girls: Princess ʻOnelua (born 20 March 1911; died of convulsions aged six months, on 19 August 1911) and Princess ʻElisiva Fusipala Taukiʻonetuku (born 26 July 1912; died from tubercular peritonitis on 21 April 1933 aged 20). Tongan tradition allows offsprings from previous marriages to be killed. In order to protect her, the King sent Sālote away to Auckland in December 1909. She stayed with a family called Kronfeld and would maintain this connection throughout her life.

In December 1909, Sālote was sent to Auckland, New Zealand, to start five years of education. She returned to Tonga every Christmas holiday. In 1913, Sālote was sent to the Anglican Diocesan School for Girls, a boarding school in Epsom, New Zealand. She would study there for 2 years before being ordered to stay in Tonga. Although the King wanted Sālote to continue her education, the chiefs convinced him otherwise. Queen Takipō had not given birth to a son and hence according to the Constitution of 1875, after her fifteenth birthday, Sālote became the heir presumptive to the Tongan throne.

Her marriage to Tungī Mailefihi had been a political masterstroke by her father, as Tungī was a direct descendant of the Tu‘i Ha‘atakalaua. Their children, therefore, combined the blood of the three grand royal dynasties in Tonga. In 1920–1921, she assisted the Bernice P. Bishop Museum's Bayard Dominick Expedition with their mapping of Tongan archaeological sites by providing access to localities and information. The expedition's reports on the Tongan past—including a large volume of material which still remains unpublished even today—were primarily compiled by Edward Winslow Gifford and provided the groundwork for comprehensive studies of the pre contact history of the Tongans (Burley 1998). She was also a keen writer and author of dance songs and love poems, published in 2004, edited by her biographer, Elizabeth Wood Ellem. Sālote led Tonga through World War II, with the islands declaring war on Germany in 1940 and on Japan in 1941 following the attack on Pearl Harbor. She put Tonga's resources at the disposal of Britain and supported the Allied cause throughout the war. Tongan troops saw battle against the Japanese in the Solomon Islands campaign, including on Guadalcanal. She brought Tonga to international attention when, during her sole visit to Europe, she attended the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in London. During the coronation procession, it began to rain and hoods were placed on the carriages in the procession. As Tongan custom dictates that one should not imitate the actions of persons one is honouring, she refused a hood and rode through the pouring rain in an open carriage with Sultan Ibrahim IV of Kelantan, endearing herself to spectators. She served as Chairman of the Tonga Traditions Committee 1954–1965 and patronised the Tonga Red Cross Society.

Trinidadian Venezuelan musician Edmundo Ros composed, recorded, and performed a calypso song titled "The Queen of Tonga" whose lyrics refer to Queen Sālote attending the coronation of Elizabeth II.