Quiet sorrow greets return of leader's body to Tongan soil

TONGA - Tongan people finally got to pay their respects to their beloved monarch yesterday, after his body arrived back in the kingdom on a New Zealand Air Force Hercules.

The day seemed set to be fiercely hot but by the time the body of King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV arrived on the mid-afternoon flight, cloud and a light breeze lowered the temperature for hundreds of onlookers.

A few mourners wiped tears from their eyes but most kept their emotions in check as they quietly acknowledged their revered leader.

All were dressed in black. Some wore tall mats like capes.

A group of men sat on Fua'amotu airport's runway where the large coffin, draped in a cloth bearing the Tongan coat of arms, was slowly transferred by 16 Navy and Army officers to a waiting vehicle.

There was silence expect for the flapping of the purple and black cloth that decorated the airport, as well as fences, shops, service stations and police stations on Tongatapu.

The newly sworn King Siaosi Tupou V waited, wearing a dark suit and a traditional mat.

The van carrying the coffin, barely visible behind tinted windows, was slowly driven the 12km into Nuku'alofa, as schoolchildren lined the route.

Isadora Tuaimeiapi, a trainee teacher, had sat on the main street of Nuku'alofa for over two hours and while "tired, thirsty and hungry" was content to be there, though she was sad at the King's passing.

A 21-gun salute boomed out as the fakahele (funeral procession), heralded by school brass bands, finally made its way into the royal palace grounds on the waterfront.

Inside, girls from Queen Salote College sat, their heads bowed, as the van drove along a grass track to the covered palace porch.

As the coffin was carried inside an Australian Tongan peering through the fence said quietly: "God Bless the King."

Earlier in the day, scores of mourners had gathered at Whenuapai airbase to farewell the late king as his body left New Zealand.

His wife, Queen Halaevalu Mata'aho 'Ahome'e, wiped away tears as she boarded the aircraft to accompany her husband home.

A 100-strong tri-service guard lined the route to the aircraft and the Air Force band played as the body was loaded on board.

- Additional reporting Maggie McNaughton