Coronations in Oceania other French Polynesian islands, including the Leeward kingdoms of Huahine, Raiatea, and Bora Bora, and even the Austral Island of Rurutu. The ancient kings of Tonga were always crowned at Kanakubolu, near Hihifo, where they took the title of Tui Kanakubolu. The tree under which they sat was torn down in a gale in the 1890s; George Tupou II had pieces of wood from the fallen tree inlaid into the throne of Tonga. George and his successor, Sālote Tupou III, were crowned on 17 March 1893 and 11 October 1918, respectively. A European coronation ceremony had been introduced to the
Tupou VI included peacekeeping operations in Bougainville. He graduated with a masters in Defence Studies from the University of New South Wales in 1997 and with an MA in International Relations from Bond University in 1999. In 1998 he ended his military career to become part of the government, first as the defence minister and the foreign minister at the same time, from October 1998 until August 2004. He took over these posts from his elder brother Tupoutoʻa, at that time still the crown prince, later to become King Siaosi Tupou V (see below). Soon he was appointed as Prime Minister on