Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV (4 July 1918 – 10 September 2006), son of Queen Sālote Tupou III and her consort Prince Viliami Tungī Mailefihi, was the king of Tonga from the death of his mother in 1965 until his own death in 2006. Immediately prior to his death, he was the fourth longest-reigning living monarch in the world after Kings Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, Abdul Halim of Kedah of Malaysia and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. He was married to Queen Halaevalu Mataʻaho ʻAhomeʻe (1926-2017), and the couple had four children: The King's full baptismal name
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