Queen Halaevalu Mataʻaho, Queen Mother of Tonga

Halaevalu Mataʻaho ʻAhomeʻe (29 May 1926 – 19 February 2017)

Early life and education Halaevalu Mataʻaho ʻAhomeʻe was born on 29 May 1926, She was also a great-great-granddaughter of Enele Maʻafu.

Marriage On 10 June 1947, Halaevalu married her distant relative Crown Prince Tāufaʻāhau of Tonga (eldest son of Queen Sālote Tupou III of Tonga (1900–1965) and Prince Viliami Tungī Mailefihi).

Queen Mother

As Queen Mother, Halaevalu celebrated her 85th birthday in 2011 with a five-day celebration held in May. Specifically, she came to visit the Tongan United Methodist Church in West Valley City, Utah, whose congregation had raised approximately $500,000 in less than a year to pay off the mortgage on the building. Her remains were flown back to Tonga on 28 February, after lying-in-state at the Tongan royal residence, ʻAtalanga in Epsom, Auckland. The date of her funeral on 1 March was declared a public holiday by the Tongan government, which also observed ten days of mourning.

Honours

National Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Pouono Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Crown Knight Grand Cross of the Order Order of Sālote Tupou III Dame of the King George Tupou V Royal Family Order Recipient of the Red Cross Medal Paulownia Dame Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown Grand Cross of the Order of Propitious Clouds Recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal Recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal

Ancestry

Family tree