# Crown Prince of Tonga

The Crown Prince of Tonga is the heir to the throne of Tonga.
The Article 32 of the Constitution of Tonga provides for male-preference primogeniture, meaning that the eldest son of the King automatically succeeds to the crown upon the monarch's death, and that the eldest daughter may succeed to the crown only if she has no living brothers and no deceased brothers who left surviving legitimate descendants. By convention, the heir to the throne also bears the noble title of Tupoutoʻa; this has been the case since then-crown prince Tāufaʻāhau was conferred with the title in the late 1930s.
The current Crown Prince of Tonga is Tupoutoʻa ʻUlukalala, who became heir apparent to the throne on 18 March 2012 upon the accession of his father, Tupou VI, as King.

## Succession to George Tupou I

The long reign of King George Tupou I (r. 1845–1893), the first constitutional monarch of Tonga, saw six different heirs apparent to the Tongan throne. The only legitimate son of the King, Vuna Takitakimālohi, died unmarried in January 1862, leaving the King without an heir. The succession would remain vacant for thirteen years until the promulgation of the Constitution of Tonga in 1875, which legitimized Vuna's half-brother Tēvita ʻUnga and named him Crown Prince. By 1889, the King would outlive ʻUnga and all three of his grandchildren – ʻUelingatoni Ngū, Nalesoni Laifone and ʻElisiva Fusipala Taukiʻonetuku. That left his great-grandson Tāufaʻāhau, Fusipala's son, as the next Crown Prince, who would succeed his great-grandfather in 1893 as George Tupou II.

## Crown Princes of Tonga since 1845

| Name | Relation to monarch | Birth | Became Crown Prince | Ceased to be Crown Prince | Death | Monarch |
| Vuna Takitakimālohi | Sole legitimate son | c. 1844 | 4 December 1845 | January 1862 deceased | January 1862 deceased | George Tupou I |
| Tēvita ʻUnga | Son | c. 1824 | 4 November 1875 | 18 December 1879 deceased | 18 December 1879 deceased | | George Tupou I |
| ʻUelingatoni Ngū | Grandson | 3 August 1854 | 18 December 1879 | 11 March 1885 deceased | 11 March 1885 deceased | | George Tupou I |
| Nalesoni Laifone | Grandson | c. 1859 | 11 March 1885 | 6 June 1889 deceased | 6 June 1889 deceased | | George Tupou I |
| ʻElisiva Fusipala Taukiʻonetuku | Granddaughter | 18 May 1850 | 6 June 1889 | September 1889 deceased | September 1889 deceased | | George Tupou I |
| Tāufaʻāhau | Double great-grandson | 18 June 1874 | September 1889 | 18 February 1893 acceded to throne as George Tupou II | 5 April 1918 | George Tupou I |
| Sālote Mafile‘o Pilolevu | Eldest daughter | 13 March 1900 | 13 March 1900 | 5 April 1918 acceded to throne as Sālote Tupou III | 16 December 1965 | George Tupou II |
| Tupoutoʻa Tungī | Eldest son | 4 July 1918 | 4 July 1918 | 16 December 1965 acceded to throne as Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV | 10 September 2006 | Sālote Tupou III |
| Tupoutoʻa | Eldest son | 4 May 1948 | 16 December 1965 | 10 September 2006 acceded to throne as George Tupou V | 18 March 2012 | Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV |
| Tupoutoʻa Lavaka | Younger brother | 12 July 1959 | 27 September 2006 | 18 March 2012 acceded to throne as Tupou VI | Living | George Tupou V |
| Tupoutoʻa ʻUlukalala | Eldest son | 17 September 1985 | 18 March 2012 | Incumbent | Living | Tupou VI |