King George Tupou V of Tonga obituary

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King George Tupou V of Tonga obituary

Pragmatic ruler of the South Pacific stateKing George Tupou V of Tonga, who has died aged 63 after suffering from cancer, was, like his father, Taufa’ahau Tupou IV, crown prince for more than 40 years before succeeding to the throne. A pragmatic ruler, he accelerated democratic reforms in the South Pacific archipelago of more than 170 islands to the north-east of New Zealand, around 50 of them inhabited by a total population of 106,000.