Tonga's constitution lets only children born in marriage inherit the throne or a noble estate, so King George Tupou V's daughter could not succeed him

Tonga's 1875 constitution says of the throne: "It shall be lawful only for those born in marriage to succeed." The same rule governs land. Under clause 104 the King may grant nobles hereditary estates, and land may not be sold. Under clause 111, "Children lawfully born in wedlock only may inherit and the eldest male child shall succeed." Under clause 112, an estate with no legitimate heir reverts to the King, who may give the title and land to someone else. George Tupou V succeeded his father in September 2006; his coronation was delayed until 2008 by riots in Nukuʻalofa. He pushed through the reforms that gave Tonga its first popularly elected parliament. He was unmarried. He had a daughter, ʻIlima Lei Fifita Tohi, born in 1974, who was barred from the throne because she was not born of a royal marriage^†. He died in a Hong Kong hospital on 18 March 2012, aged 63. His brother succeeded as Tupou VI, the 24th Tuʻi Kanokupolu, and was crowned on 4 July 2015 at Centenary Church in Nukuʻalofa, after a taumafa kava ceremony with about 150 nobles. His own noble titles, ʻUlukālala and ʻAta, passed to his two sons^†.