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The Maori King has revealed that he always thought his sister would succeed his mother as head of the Kingitanga movement.
In his first interview since being crowned Maori monarch, King Tuheitia said he expected his eldest sibling, Heeni, would be crowned Queen.
The interview with the King is published in the latest edition of Mana magazine, which goes on sale today.
King Tuheitia told Mana editor Derek Fox that he did not recall being groomed in any way to succeed his mother, Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu.
"Mum did her own thing; sometimes she would ask for us to help out and we would go," King Tuheitia said.
"And while it might have been in the back of mind, I really thought it was going to be Heeni.
"Then just before she died she changed her mind and I was told."
In the years preceding Dame Te Ata's death on August 15, 2006, she debated whether to pass her crown to Heeni or to Tuheitia, the third of her seven children and her first son.
As few as six weeks before she died, the Queen expressed a preference for her daughter to succeed her.
The Mana article reveals that King Tuheitia's son, Whatumoana, learned of Dame Te Ata's final choice before his father and mother.
"Ironically, their son Whatumoana was one of the three or four people in his tipuna's room when she made up her mind and told his Auntie Heeni that Tuheitia would be King," Mr Fox wrote.
"Whatumoana kept that information to himself until his parents were officially informed."
King Tuheitia told Mr Fox that he believed Whatumoana should be better prepared for the role if he was ever called on to lead the Kingitanga.
The article reveals that Whatumoana will go to a "protocol school" and "ambassador's programme" in Washington DC later this year.
"Graduation from the protocol school coincides with the American presidential election and the Americans have apparently invited the King to visit and perhaps meet the new President."
King Tuheitia is reported to have endured "a steep learning curve" in his first 21 months in the job, initially accepting every invitation that came the way of him and his wife, Atawhai.
"Now," he told Mana, "I'm learning to say no to a few things."
When asked about the need for Maori to be part of talks on constitutional matters, particularly as Australians were discussing becoming a republic, the King replied:
"I'm not sure we're ready for that yet."
Mr Fox describes the King as "down to earth", and relates how the seventh of Potatau Te Wherowhero's line to head the Kingitanga movement prefers tea out of a mug to a china cup.
He said the King wore "comfortable casual clothes and a favourite fishing jacket" for the interview at Turangawaewae, in Ngaruawahia, and still lives with his wife and family in the house they built at Huntly five years ago because it is "private and a haven from the busy life they've experienced in the past couple of years".
Mr Fox also details King Tuheitia's education and work history, including stints at a meat works, in the Army and on a construction crew for the Huntly power station.
It is revealed that one of his hobbies is tinkering with old vehicles.
