The King and I

Another scanned blast from the past!


The University of the South Pacific was established in Fiji in 1968 as a regional University serving 12 different island nations; Cook Islands, Fiji Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. 

The first graduation took place in December 1971 and the degrees were conferred by the Chancellor of the University His Majesty King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga. On the day prior to the graduation the late King  toured the University. There was  I (the young bearded lad to the left of his Majesty) showing him a physiological experiment of some kind.

The King of Tonga's mother, Queen Salote Tupou, is well remembered in Britain for her visit in 1953 to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.