In 1990 King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV was 72-years-old and ailing with kidney failure among other illnesses.
He mostly lived at ‘Atalanga in Auckland, a short drive away from Mater Misericordiae Hospital (now Mercy) where his mother had been treated and died. The king’s stream of consciousness still worked, and schemes and ideas flowed. Most of it was impractical and he was mostly ignored by the government and parliament. His opening and closing speeches at Fale Alea were mostly regarded with wry humour. Many questioned whether he would be around for the new millennium (he was), even as he was plotting ways to move Tonga’s time zone so it could be first in the world to the year 2000. The growing concern about the king was what came next and while Crown Prince Tupouto’a made for amusing copy in tabloids, others were less impressed. Among them was the US military think tank, the Rand Corporation. They produced a report on Tonga which focused on corruption, and Tupouto’a.
‘Some view him as too Westernised, too often away from home, and too interested in women, some of whom the King does not approve,’ the report by one George K Tanham said. He violates the sabbath law ‘when he goes out on Sundays to a small island to enjoy himself with his friends….He will probably succeed his father, especially if he shows enlightened leadership, but his future may well depend on how he behaves.’
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