Born in 1859, he was the youngest child and second son of Tēvita ʻUnga and Fifita Vavaʻu, the second daughter of Liufau, Tuʻi Haʻangana Ngata, and his second wife, Hulita Tuʻifua.
[citation needed] Although his paternal grandfather Tāufaʻāhau had become King George Tupou I of a united Tonga in 1845, Laifone's father was considered illegitimate by Christian standard because he was born to a secondary consort.
[2][3] After the death of his uncle Vuna Takitakimālohi, his father ʻUnga was legitimized and named Crown Prince under the terms of the first written constitution of Tonga on 4 November 1875.
It amused the old gentleman, as he sat beside His Royal Highness, who was shoeless, and clad only with shirt and trowsers, jacket, and slouched straw hat, to listen to his broken English, as he replied to questions or spoke of his visits to Wellington and Auckland, the deepest impression and most cherished memory of which found expression in the oft-repeated exclamation, "Plenty of fun there!"
When he ascends the throne it will tax to the full the capacity, wisdom, and prudence (diplomatic tact) of the then Prime Minister to rein him in and prevent his kicking over the traces.