George Tupou V of Tonga for the purposes of assuring that political independence and neutrality were retained. On 24 February 2012, he visited pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City. During his reign, George Tupou V oversaw reforms within the Tongan honours system which both expanded the number of Orders in the Kingdom and created rules to make the award of these Orders more egalitarian. In September 2011, Tupou V had surgery to remove a kidney following the discovery of a tumour. On 15 September 2011 he received the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary from Pál Schmitt,
George Tupou I of Ma'afutuku'i'aulahi. Niukapu, a chief, fled to Ha'apai under the protection of the Ha'atalafale Tu'ipelehake. These chiefs supported Tupou Moheofo, installed as Tu'i Kanokupolu, instead of Tuku'aho's father, Mumui. The retribution by Tuku'aho on Ha'a Havea was regarded, despite the fact Niukapu was not part of the clan, as a demotion in power and a display of disrespect of territorial boundaries. Since then, Tuku'aho's siblings and descendants have had antagonistic feelings towards those from Ha'a Havea. George Tupou was established as the Tuʻi Haʻapai (H. king) before the death of his father in 1820. He inherited the conflicts with the