A Waikato-Tainui kaumatua and historian says the Maori King movement is mourning the loss of a royal blood relative of the Pacific, the late Tongan King George Tupou V.
King George has been laid to rest at the royal tombs in Nuku'alofa.
Waikato-Tainui kuia Mamae Takerei, says his death casts her mind back to when Tonga's Queen Salote visited New Zealand.
She says the Tongan Queen would meet with the late Princess Te Puea and the late Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu.
Ms Takerei says the Kingitanga and the Tongan monarchy have held a special relationship since 1947.
She says back then Te Puea took Dame Te Ariki to places such as Tonga and Rarotonga to form a relationships with royalty there in preparation to take over the Kingitanga.
