1986 Gold Angel Winner

Excellence In Media takes great pride and much pleasure in welcoming their Majesty's, the King and Queen of Tonga, the only remaining Polynesian Kingdom. They come to us from their capital, Nuku'alofa, which is south of American Samoa and Southeast of Fiji. They honor us by their presence and we award them our highest honor, Gold Angels, in recognition of their dedication and devotion to Spirituality and their touching of lives in both the Kingdom of Tonga and wherever they go in the world.

His Majesty was born into a royal family that traces its origins to 1000 A.D. and probably ruled for centuries before that. He attended the Free Wesleyan Church's Tupou College in Tonga and won degrees from the University of Sydney, the first Tongan ever to receive a university degree. He was crowned King in 1967 and in the years since has been active in developing his country economically and improving the educational system, as well as helping his people in numerous humanitarian ways. He initiated the re-formation of the Tongan language and serves as chancellor of the University of the South Pacific. He developed close bonds of friendship with Great Britain, and in 1977 Queen Elisabeth visited Tonga to confer on His Majesty that title, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George.

Her Majesty, a descendant of Ma'afu who conquered Fiji during the era when Tonga was an empire, established the Red Cross in Tonga and sends teams into the countryside to counsel pregnant women. Among her many activities , she has established a kindergarten system and a school for the handicapped. Married for 39 years, the two have four children. Both are much loved, not only in Tonga but wherever they have gone.

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