Tonga king, 88, dies after reign of 41 years

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga – Tonga’s King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV, a towering figure in the tiny Pacific Island nation for four decades, has died in a New Zealand hospital, media reports said today. He was 88.

His death ended one of the world’s longest reigns by a monarch in modern times.

King Tupou IV died shortly before midnight, New Zealand time, after a long, unspecified illness in a hospital where he had spent most of the past several months. His death plunged the country into a mourning period expected to last for months, the Tongan government said.

“The sun has set in the kingdom of Tonga,” said the formal death announcement.

His son Crown Prince Tupouto immediately ascended the throne. The new monarch, King Taufa’ahau Tupou V, will take his vows today, but his coronation will occur later, Tonga’s Chief Justice Tony Ford said.

The end of Tupou IV’s reign is likely to fuel a push for more democracy in the near-feudal kingdom. The royal family has ruled with absolute power since tribal groups on more than 170 Polynesian islands united into a single kingdom in 1845.

Tupou IV benefited from Tongans’ historical reverence for the monarchy. But that sentiment has waned in recent years as most peo-ple have languished in poverty even as the royal family enriched itself from the nation’s meager resources, fell prey to scam artists and oversaw bad economic decisions.

Tupou IV ascended the throne in 1965 after his mother, Queen Salote, died. Tupou IV’s 41-year reign made him one of the world’s longest-serving sovereigns.

At age 14, the future king was one of Tonga’s top athletes; he could pole-vault more than 9 feet, played tennis, cricket and rugby, and rowed competitively.

But like many of his countrymen, he became obese, remaining so for most of his adult life.

In the 1990s, Tupou IV led his 108,000 people on a diet and exercise regime. From a weight listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the heaviest for any monarch – 462 pounds – the king shed about 154 pounds.