Official Birthday and Coronation Day of the King of Tonga

A lot of the fascinating facts about Tonga surround its monarchy, but let’s start with the most important: King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV was the world’s heaviest monarch. In fact, he still holds the Guinness World Record for being the world’s heaviest monarch at 208.7kg (460lb). Nevertheless, he managed to lose about 40% of his weight becoming a health role model for the whole of Tonga. In the 1990s, he took part in a national fitness campaign, and by his 80th birthday, in 1998, he had lost to 286 pounds.

Tonga's King Tupou VI has been formally crowned before thousands of people including heads of state and dignitaries from around the world. Tonga has begun 11 days of celebrations to mark the coronation of monarch King Tupou VI with an ancient kava ceremony and gifts of pigs and yams from the country's chiefs.

On August 1st, the Kingdom of Tonga crowned its newest ruler, King George Tupou V. In a ceremony that lasted for days, and cost over $2.5 million (US), the 60-year old King was crowned as one of the few remaing monarchs with true ruling power - but that is about to change. In 2006, pro-democracy riots shook the small island nation of 112,000. The coronation was postponed, and now King George pledges that "The Sovereign of the only Polynesian kingdom... is voluntarily surrendering his powers".