George Tupou V

George Tupou V was born on 4 May 1948, the eldest son of King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV. He became King of Tonga in 2006 and immediately set about a quiet revolution: he announced he would relinquish most of the monarch's powers and be guided by the Prime Minister on most matters. The snap election in 2010 was the first called under the new system, marking Tonga's shift from absolute to constitutional monarchy in practice. He died on 18 March 2012, after reigning for 5 years and 189 days — the shortest reign of any Tongan monarch since the constitutional monarchy was declared in 1875. His younger br…