Tongan Royal Wedding

'Love before protocol': Crown Prince of Tonga snubs government officials by marrying his cousin in Royal Wedding

• Late father was said to be against the marriage
• Family and government officials fear narrowing of blood line

By Richard Shears
PUBLISHED:21:14 GMT, 12 July 2012 | UPDATED:10:36 GMT, 13 July 2012

Her name is just a little more difficult to pronounce than Kate Middleton.
But the new bride of the Crown Prince of Tonga is brushing aside difficulties foreigners have of addressing her, along with questions about whether she should ever have married her cousin.
The bride of the Pacific island nation's Crown Prince Tupouto’a Ulukalala is Miss Sinaitakala Tuk’imatamoana ‘I Fanakavakilangi Fakafanua.
While the people of the former British empire nation of Tonga have no problems in pronouncing her name, it is more than a mouthful for visiting dignitaries.

Tonga's Crown Prince Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala, left, and his bride Sinaitakala Tu'imatamoana 'i Fanakavakilangi Fakafanua leave the Centenary Church after a wedding ceremony in Nuku'alofa yesterday

All she was concerned about today was the applause of her people as she and her husband were driven through the streets of the Tongan capital, Nuku’alofa, in an open-topped car.
But behind the typically-colourful scenes of the national holiday following the ceremony was disagreement about the marriage.
His father, King George Tupou V, who died in March this year, is said to have been against the marriage – the first of a Crown Prince in 65 years.

 

He and his advisors believed the blood ties of the 27-year-old prince and his 25-year-old lover were too close.
His bride, a former teacher, is 26th in line to the throne.

The government and royal officials have long been against marriage between cousins – as well as between royals and commoners - but Prince Tupouto’a has told his advisers that love comes before protocol.

The couple left the church in an open car, cheered on by the girls of Queen Salote College where the bride was a teacher

The bride, aged 25, is escorted by her brother Tongan noble Lord Fakafanua down the aisle

The marriage took place despite controversy about the pair being cousins. The couple are pictured leaving the church

He has ignored history which tells how a 21-year-old princess studying in New Zealand married a commoner policeman, resulting in her being forced by her family to return to Tonga and have the marriage annulled.
‘The bloodline is too narrow – if nothing else, it’s unhealthy’ said Princess Frederica Tuita, ninth in line to the throne, as the Crown Prince made his wedding preparations.
She was supported by pro-democracy politician Mr Akilisi Pohiva, who said the late king’s family wanted to ‘keep the royal blood to their own family, but this is wrong.’

Man and wife: The pair are issued their marriage licence at the Royal Palace in Nuku'alofa

He told New Zealand’s TVNZ: ‘They are too close. I do not know about biological effects of two close bloods mixed together but I think they need new blood from outside.’
Despite the row, celebrations are expected to continue through to the weekend after the spectacular wedding ceremony, during which the bride wore a long-sleeved lace dress with a floor-length veil, while the groom wore a three-piece black and grey suit.
School children clapped and sang outside the church and thousands of people lined the streets waiting for the open-topped limousine carrying the newly-married couple to drive by.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2172683/Crown-Prince-Tonga-Tupoutoa-Ulukalala-marries-cousin.html#ixzz20YKTTY18