Tongan Queen Mother

Tonga remembers matriarch with a heart for the people

From the moment her cortege landed at the Fua'amotu airport after being flown from New Zealand on Wednesday morning, Tongans demonstrated their adoration and respect for the late Queen Mother.

Thousands of children lined the roadsides of the 20km stretch leading from the airport to the royal palace. In Tongan tradition commoners are forbidden to be upstanding near or around the presence of Royal family members, so the children sat on the ground with their heads bowed in respect as the cortege passed by.

Students pay respect to Tongan Queen Mother

Queen Mata'aho died last weekend at the age of 90 in Auckland and was flown back to Tonga by a Royal New Zealand Airforce Hercules this afternoon.

RNZ reports the royal cortege traveled by road from the airport to the capital with school children lining the streets along the way, some having waited over three hours amid intermittent showers, to pay their respects.

The chair of New Zealand's Tongan Advisory Council Melino Maka said the remarkable scenes remind him of when Queen Salote died.