These officers hid Ramavo and one of her friends in a safe location, then secured the support of several influential power-brokers, including judges and the keepers of the "sampy" (royal idols). The officers then rallied the army behind Ramavo, so that on August 11, 1828, when she declared herself the successor to Radama on the pretence that he himself had decreed it, there could be no immediate resistance. Ramavo took the throne name Ranavalona ("folded", "kept aside"), then followed royal custom by systematically capturing and putting to death her political rivals, including Rakotobe, his family, and other members of Radama's family, much as Radama had done to the queen's own family upon his succession to the throne. Her coronation ceremony took place on June 12, 1829.