George Tupou II highranking chiefs in Tonga itself (Vīlai Tupou, father of Baron Vaea). His own government, on the other hand, was an absolute mess and some ministers were seriously contemplating to ask the British to annex the country. This would perhaps have happened, had the king not become ill, and at the end died. He was soon followed by his wife Takipō (1 March 1893 – 26 November 1918) from the infamous Spanish flu epidemic raging in Tonga. Siaosi's daughter succeeded him and would lead Tonga out of its political mire. He was Grand Master of the Royal Orders of Tonga that
Monarchies in Oceania July 2008, three days before his coronation, King George Tupou V announced that he would relinquish most of his power and be guided by his Prime Minister's recommendations on most matters. The current monarch is Tupou VI. The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesian people. The islands came under the UK's sphere of influence in the late 19th century. The Ellice Islands were administered by Britain as part of a protectorate from 1892 to 1916 and as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony from 1916 to 1974. In 1974 the Ellice Islanders voted for separate British dependency status