New Māori Queen crowned

Following the death of Kiingi Tuheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, his youngest child was chosen to succeed him as Māori Queen.

Twenty-seven-year-old Ngā Wai hono i te pō was chosen by a council of the indigenous Māori chiefs. She is only the second woman to be chosen as Queen – her grandmother being the first. The role is largely ceremonial.

She was blessed with a bible that was also used to anoint the first Māori king in 1858 as she sat before her father’s coffin.

His coffin was then transported to Mount Taupiri for burial in a flotilla of canoes.