Women of Power - Queen Salote

Sālote Tupou III was the Queen of Tonga from 1918 to 1965. She reigned for nearly 48 years, longer than any other Tongan monarch.

She was a highly popular Tongan monarch and standing at 6 foot 3 inches tall, Queen Salote was an imposing figure, but photographs reveal a near-constant smile.

Queen Salote was noted for recognising the modern change in attitudes towards women and cautioned against what she considered were male centric faka palangi ways, where Tongans aspired to a European lifestyle.

Learn more about this much loved queen in the video above and learn more about the influential women in our Pacific history here: