Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō

Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō (born 13 January 1997) has been the Māori Queen since 2024. She was raised to the throne on 5 September 2024 after being elected to replace her father Kīngi Tūheitia. 

Her full name and title is Te Arikinui Kuīni Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō. Her titles Te Arikinui (meaning Paramount Chief) and Kuīni (meaning Queen).

Reign
Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō acceded to the throne at the age of 27, the second-youngest to do so. Her accession was not automatic, as the Māori monarch has to be elected. Upon her accession, she was younger than the youngest reigning monarch of a sovereign nation (Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the sovereign Emir of Qatar). 

Tūheitia's death on 30 August 2024 caused a selection of his replacement by a forum of tribal leaders who choose her by consensus.

The announcement of her selection as Queen and her taking the throne took place during the funeral of her father.

Personal life
Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō was born in Waikato, New Zealand as the youngest child and only daughter of Tūheitia. She is a direct descendant of the first Māori King, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero. She is the eighth monarch of the Kīngitanga, and the second woman to hold the position.

Māori is her first language.

When Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō was nine years old, her father became the Māori king. 

References

Other websites

Category:1997 births
Category:Living people
Category:Māori monarchs