Tonga's birthday bash a regal affair

By THERESA GARNER

NUKU'ALOFA - Beauty queens and dignitaries greeted King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV yesterday as Tonga prepared for his 85th birthday.

As the monarch was pushed in a wheelchair into the Dateline Hotel on Nuku'alofa's waterfront, applause and cheering echoed through the hotel's new wing.

A brass band played Putting on the Ritz as the King arrived, staring straight ahead and waving regally.

He stood for the singing of the Tongan national anthem, leaning on two canes, before sinking back into his chair.

Awaiting his arrival were New Zealand's Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright, and Dame Te Atairangikaahu, the Maori Queen.

Both women are in Tonga to celebrate the King's birthday on Friday. Dame Silvia was greeted at the airport by the King's Prime Minister son, Prince 'Ulukala Lavaka Ata who last night hosted a reception for her.

The King's duties in his birthday week began with the hotel wing opening - the project a joint venture between China and Tonga.

The deputy chairman of Janfull International Dateline Hotel, Clive Edwards, who is also Tonga's Police Minister, said the hotel extension would help the tourism industry.

The hotel, built in 1966 is a faded symbol of the monarch's reign, which began in 1965.