Double Wedding Of Tongan Princes

THE two sons of the reigning monarch of Tonga, Queen Salote, were married on Tuesday. June 10. Great crowds gathered early around the Royal Chapel, at Nukualofa, where the ceremony took place. The participants were: Prince Tupouto-o-Tugi, heir to the Tongan throne, and Halaevalu Mataaho, daughter of the Hon. Ahome e, Governor of the island of Ha apai.

Prince Fatafehi Tut Pelehake, and Melenaitc Tupou-Moheofo, niece of the Hon. Veikune, Speaker of the Tongan Parliament.

The marriage ceremony was performed by the Rev. Roger Page, for many years head of the Methodist Church in Tonga.

He was assisted by the Rev. A. E. McKay,

president of the Tongan Methodist Con ference, and by the Rev. J. W. Burton, President-General of the Methodist Church of Australasia.

From the royal pew, Queen Salote watched the proceeding with evident 1 A ft er the wedding, some 350 guests were entertained by Her Majesty in palm covered shelters overlooking the lagoon, before the royal palace. Visitors from overseas included the Maori Princess Te p ue a, and representatives of the Fiji and Samoan people.

The British Agent and Consul in Tonga, Mr. C. W. T. Johnson, proposed the toast of the royal brides and bridegrooms; and, in his reply, Prince Tugi spoke with appreciation of the goodwill of their

people in Tonga, their relations of Samoa and Fiji, and their friends from New Zealand, Two five-tiered wedding cakes were ceremonially cut.

After the formal breakfast, the Queen received her guests on the steps in front of the palace.

Two days later, the wedding ceremony was repeated in Tongan fashion. The brides, wearing feathered garments and wrapped about with fine mats, and the bride-grooms, dressed in tapa decorated with leaves and scented flowers, were helped on to a dais of mats, piled to a height of 6 feet.

Presents of mats, tapa, kava roots and pigs were exchanged with full formality; and then the elaborate kava ceremony, which was the key feature of the Tongan wedding, was performed.

Camera Records Colourful Ceremonies

(1) Prin ce Tupouto’-a-Tungi and Princess Mata’aho during the Tongan marriage ceremonies which took place two days after the European service. (2) Princess Mata'a ho cutting her five-tiered wedding cake at the reception on June 10. An identical cake was cut by Princess Melenaite. (3) The Royal couples (the Crown Prince and his bride on the left, and Prince Tuipelehake and Princess Melenaite on the right) sitting on a huge pile of fine mats during the Tongan ceremonies. (4) The most inportant part of the Tongan ceremony-making Royal kava. Judging by the photograph, the makers did not lack advice or interest from the onlookers. —Photos by Fiji Public Relations Office.