On March 12, 2012, the Wall Street Journal published an interesting article about Her Royal Highness Princess Abigail Kawananakoa entitled, “Lunching with one of Hawaii’s Real ‘Descendants'”, by Julia Flynn Siler.
Ms. Siler recently published the book, “Lost Kingdom: Hawaii’s Last Queen, the Sugar Kings, and America’s First Imperial Adventure”.
Click here to read the article from the WSJ
If you are interested in purchasing Ms. Siler’s book you may do so via Amazon.
With the recent death of His Majesty King Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho (George) Tupou V of Tonga I thought I would post a video about the history of the Tongan monarchy. The above video is a good introduction… so enjoy. 🙂
On March 17, 2012, Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands attended the première of the play, Ongezien, in Wolfheze, on the “… occasion of the 100th anniversary of Het Schild, a center for the blind and visually impaired elderly.”
Meanwhile, it was recently announced that Their Royal Highnesses Prince Willem-Alexander of Oranje and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands will attend a memorial service in Lommel, Belgium on March 21, 2012, for the victims of last week’s bus crash in a Swiss tunnel. Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, will also attend the service.
Sources: RVD, HoogenLaag.nl, and PPE
His Majesty King Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho (George) Tupou V of Tonga has died in Hong Kong on Sunday. The newspaper, Matangi Tonga Online who broke the story, claims His Majesty “… was rushed to hospital early this afternoon but it is understood that he had passed away a few hours later.”
According to AFP News there has been no confirmation or comments from “…Tongan authorities nor palace officials…” at this hour. However, a “…statement was expected following Monday’s cabinet meeting.”
The last major public appearance by His Majesty was on February 24, 2012, when he met with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. Click here to watch a view news report about his visit.
To read the original report about His Majesty’s passing from Matangi Tonga Online please click here.
UPDATE:
The prime minister of Tonga, Lord Siale’ataonga Tu’ivakano, has officially confirmed the death of His Majesty King Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho (George) Tupou V. The king died in a Hong Kong hospital with His Royal Highness Crown Prince Tupouto’a Lavaka by his bedside.
Click here for more information.
A 2011 Interview with King Siaosi (George) Tupou V of Tonga
Sources: AFP News and MTO
Finally! Here is the 1997 documentary entitled, The Aristocracy. This program is fantastic, and in my opinion, better than Secrets of the Manor House (if you missed the link to the program click here for more information). Any way… click the links below and enjoy! 🙂