Photograph of HM Queen Elizabeth II (b.1926) walking alongside King Taufa'ahau Topou IV of Tonga (1918-2006) (right) during her visit to Tonga. HM The Queen holds an umbrella and walks together with King Taufna with their backs to the viewer. People in the background.

The kingdom of Tonga is made up of some 169 islands in the south-west Pacific Ocean, east of Fiji. A British protectorate from 1900, Tonga achieved independence with continual membership of the Commonwealth on 4 June 1970. King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV had succeeded to the throne in 1965; his mother Queen Salote attended The Queen’s coronation in 1953.
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have visited Tonga on three occasions ð in December 1953, during the first Commonwealth tour of the new reign; then in March 1970 when they were accompanied by Princess Anne; and during the Silver Jubilee year of 1977.