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.