Tongan King turns out in splendour for tattoo

King George Tupou V. Photo / Getty Images

The Tongan King saluted pipe bands at the Edinburgh Tattoo at the weekend while his country mourned those killed in the ferry disaster, but local Tongan community leaders say it was right for him to have attended the festival in Scotland.

Dressed in a green military tunic and white trousers, King George Tupou V, who was educated at Sandhurst's Royal Military Academy, enjoyed the 60th anniversary of the Tattoo from the Royal Box and was escorted on to the parade ground to take the salute.

Buckingham Palace, Downing St and the British Foreign Office confirmed the King's presence at the Tattoo was his only official function during his four-month holiday, the Herald on Sunday reported yesterday.

Media in New Zealand and abroad raised questions about the King leaving Tonga just after more than 90 died when the ferry Princess Ashika sunk. But community leaders say it is important for the King to promote his country.

The Tongan Methodist Church co-superintendent in New Zealand, Tevita Finau, said Princess Pilolevu Tuita, who was acting as regent, was performing all the functions expected of a monarch in times of crisis.

The "silent majority" and grieving families didn't need to be distracted by a debate about whether it was appropriate that the King had left the country.

"A lot of people would rather concentrate and focus on the loss and the pain that families in Tonga are going through at the moment. It's important that they feel we support and pray for them. Those families would rather hear us doing those things.

"It's a great honour for the King to be invited [to Scotland], and of course he can't be in two places at once."

In Auckland Will Ilolahia, who described himself as a "democratic royalist", said he was more than happy that the King had represented the island nation on the world stage.

"Mate, I'm honoured, I'm not proud, I'm honoured that he's there and Tonga is being represented.

"For a lot of people who don't understand his majesty he's actually more English than the English, he's more French than the French. He's spent a lot of his upbringing in the UK. This is like his dream come true."

Blaming the King for not being at home was wrong, he said.

"We should be blaming those who ran the ferry."

Meanwhile, an expatriate business group claims the Tongan Government turned down the offer of a state-of-the-art ferry just two months before the Princess Ashika sank.

Meteliko Tuaileva, director of the American Pacific Islanders' Foundation, told Sunday News it presented the Government with a business plan that would provide it with the MV Fearless, which was commissioned in 1943 but had recently had a $15 million overhaul.

Mr Tuaileva said from Hawaii that the foundation offered to run the ship as a joint-venture, seeking a cut of ticketing funds.

"I was approaching them to do a joint-venture. There was no money needed up front.

"It would have been ideal for the Tongan Government shipping line. But they turned our offer down and bought the 'Big Fiji Coffin' for whatever reason."

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: NZPA