The Crown Prince of Tonga is the heir to the throne of

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

. The Article 32 of the

Constitution of Tonga The Constitution of Tonga is supreme law under which the Government of Tonga operates. It was enacted by King George Tupou I on 4 November 1875. It stipulates the makeup of the Tongan Government and the balance between its executive, legislatur ...

provides for

male-preference primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit all or most of their parent's estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relat ...

, meaning that the eldest son of the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

automatically succeeds to the crown upon the monarch's death, and that the eldest daughter may succeed to the crown only if she has no living brothers and no deceased brothers who left surviving legitimate descendants. By convention, the heir to the throne also bears the

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

title of

Tupoutoʻa Tupoutoʻa is a Tongan noble title. It is the most recent of the 33 hereditary titles and is principally used by crown princes of Tonga. Queen Sālote Tupou III created the title in 1924, with a portion of land estate in Haʻapai, for former P ...

; this has been the case since then-crown prince

Tāufaʻāhau George Tupou I (4 December 1797 – 18 February 1893), originally known as Tāufaʻāhau I, was the first List of monarchs of Tonga, king of modern Tonga. He adopted the name Siaosi (originally Jiaoji), the Tongan language, Tongan equivalent o ...

was conferred with the title in the late 1930s. The current Crown Prince of Tonga is

Tupoutoʻa ʻUlukalala Tupoutoʻa ʻUlukalala (Siaosi Manumataongo ʻAlaivahamamaʻo ʻAhoʻeitu Konstantin Tukuʻaho; born 17 September 1985) is Crown Prince of Tonga. Tupoutoʻa ʻUlukalala became heir apparent to the throne in March 2012 upon the accession of hi ...

, who became

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to the throne on 18 March 2012 upon the accession of his father,

Tupou VI Tupou VI (ʻAho‘eitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho; born 12 July 1959) is King of Tonga. The youngest child of King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV, he served as Prime Minister of Tonga from 2000 to 2006. Following his elder brother's accession to the ...

, as King.

Succession to George Tupou I

The long reign of King

George Tupou I George Tupou I (4 December 1797 – 18 February 1893), originally known as Tāufaʻāhau I, was the first List of monarchs of Tonga, king of modern Tonga. He adopted the name Siaosi (originally Jiaoji), the Tongan language, Tongan equivalent o ...

(), the first constitutional monarch of Tonga, saw six different heirs apparent to the Tongan throne. The only legitimate son of the King,

Vuna Takitakimālohi Siaosi Vuna Takitakimālohi (c. 1844 – January 1862) was a Prince of Tonga, the only legitimate son and heir to King George Tupou I. Life Born around 1844, he was the only surviving son of Tongan King George Tupou I and Sālote Lupep ...

, died unmarried in January 1862, leaving the King without an heir. The succession would remain vacant for thirteen years until the promulgation of the

in 1875, which legitimized Vuna's half-brother

Tēvita ʻUnga Tēvita ʻUnga ( 1824 – 18 December 1879) was the first Crown Prince of Tonga, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Tonga, Prime Minister of Tonga. Life Born in 1824 to Tuʻi Haʻapai George Tupou I, Tāufaʻāhau and one of his secondary wi ...

and named him Crown Prince. By 1889, the King would outlive ʻUnga and all three of his grandchildren –

ʻUelingatoni Ngū ʻUiliamu ʻUelingatoni Ngū Tupoumālohi (3 August 1854 – 11 March 1885) was the second Crown Prince of Tonga from 1879 to 1885. He is also commonly referred by his Anglicized name as "Wellington Ngu". Life Born in 1854, he was the second c ...

Nalesoni Laifone Nalesoni Laifone ( – 6 June 1889) was the third Crown Prince of Tonga from 1885 to 1889. He died before succeeding to the throne. Life Born in 1859, he was the youngest child and second son of Tēvita ʻUnga and Fifita Vavaʻu, the second dau ...

and

ʻElisiva Fusipala Taukiʻonetuku ʻElisiva Fusipala Taukiʻonetuku (18 May 1850 – September 1889) was the mother of King George Tupou II of Tonga. Biography Born to Tēvita ʻUnga and his first wife Fifita Vavaʻu, her father was, according to newly adopted Christian law, a ...

. That left his great-grandson Tāufaʻāhau, Fusipala's son, as the next Crown Prince, who would succeed his great-grandfather in 1893 as

George Tupou II George Tupou II (; 18 June 1874 – 5 April 1918) was the King of Tonga from 18 February 1893 until his death. He was officially crowned at Nukuʻalofa, on 17 March 1893. He was also the 20th Tuʻi Kanokupolu. Life Siaosi (George) Tupou II ...

Crown Princes of Tonga since 1845

Timeline

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crown Prince Of Tonga

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

1845 establishments in Tonga

Succession to George Tupou I

Crown Princes of Tonga since 1845

Timeline

See also

References

Bibliography