[3] During his final illness, Prime Minister Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi visited Malietoa's relatives at the hospital, where a church service had been conducted.

[5] His death was the last of a series of high-ranking dignitaries in the region within the preceding years, following those of Fijian former leader Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, Māori Queen Dame Te Atairangikaahu, Tongan monarch Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV, and the king of the French chiefdom of Uvea, Tomasi Kulimoetoke II.

[14] The New Zealand delegation at the funeral was led by Governor-General Anand Satyanand, Prime Minister Helen Clark and Māori King Tūheitia Paki.

[13] Other foreign guests included King George Tupou V of Tonga, Governor-General of Australia Michael Jeffery, American Samoan Governor Togiola Tulafono, and officials from Fiji, Tuvalu, Niue, Japan, China and French Polynesia.

[1][15] The United States was represented by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Affairs, Papaliʻi David Cohen, whose matai title was conferred by Malietoa.

Two candidates who were seen as likely to succeed Malietoa were fellow paramount chiefs Tui Ātua Tupua Tamasese Efi and Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II, both at the time members of the Council of Deputies.