Photo 2: The coffin carrying Tonga’s King George Tupou V was carried on a giant black and gold-topped catafalque by 150 pallbearers to the Royal Tombs in Tonga’s capital Nuku’alofa  Photo: Matangi Tonga & Reuters – Peter Poulsen.

Photo 1: Pall bearers carry the royal casket of Tonga’s late King George Tupou V into the Royal Tombs during his funeral in Nuku-alofa, Tonga Photo: AP, Published in The New Zealand Herald.

Photo 3: The new King Tupou VI looks on during the State Funeral held for King George Tupou V  Photo: Sandra Mu/Getty Images

The funeral service mixed Tongan ritual with the Wesleyan Christian tradition of hymns, bible readings, prayers and eulogies.

Tonga, which comprises 170 islands, has a population of about 100,000 and lies about 2,120 km (1,320 miles) northeast of New Zealand. Its debt-stricken economy is dependent on tourism, fishing, growing crops, and earnings sent back by expatriates.

News report – The Telegraph UK.

~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 31.3.12~