Introduced the ‘whānau system’ into Wellington High School in the early 1980s Heavily involved in the establishment of Te Wānanga o Raukawa Foundation Director of Whitireia Polytechnic, Porirua Tūroa Kiniwe Royal (CNZM, QSO, ED (28 January 1935 – 29 November 2023) was a New Zealand Māori educationist.

Educational institutes he was part of founding are Whitireia Polytechnic in Porirua north of Wellington and Te Wānanga-o-Raukawa in Ōtaki.

The block was first converted into a farm by his paternal adopted grandfather, Tukumana Te Taniwha of Ngāti Whanaunga and later by his father Haunui.

As Royal was born and raised at Waimangō, Firth of Thames, within the lands of Ngāti Whanaunga, this was his primary tribal affiliation.

According to a 1949 article published in the Gisborne Herald Royal was one of the top seven candidates nationally for the Ngārimu VC Memorial Fund Award having attained 197 marks of a possible 300.

[6] In 1975, Royal completed a Master of Education Administration (M.EdAdmin) at the University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia.

In 1959, Royal published an article in the Te Ao Hou magazine entitled A Māori Child Grows up in Auckland.

In 1968, Royal contributed to a Race Relations Seminar at the University of Waikato where it was reported that he said: ...There is an urgent need to advance Maori education sufficiently to prevent the development of an unemployable proletariat...

The nation cannot afford to waste any of the ability of its children, and we should develop the most untapped professional talent of the Maori people for the benefit of all."

Writing in Ka Whawhai tonu matou: Struggle without End Ranginui Walker explains that Royal attended a major hui (gathering) at Tūrangawaewae Marae, Ngāruawāhia, (the seat of the Māori King Movement) in September 1984.

This gathering was convened by Te Rūnanga Whakawhanaunga i Ngā Hāhi and concerned a host of topics and issues of importance to Māori leadership at the time.

It was put to the workshop that in the nine years since the tribunal came into being, events such as the land march, the occupation of disputed lands at Bastion Point and Raglan, protest marches and the Hikoi to Waitangi had raised the level of national consciousness to such an extent that perhaps the public would now accept a recommendation to make the tribunal retrospective to 1900.

The resource person replied 'Turoa, since your goldfield claim occurred in 1867, and if you want to take it to the tribunal, then you had better move an amendment to the motion to make it retrospective to 1840.'

In 1973, he served on a ‘Maori Programmes Advisory Committee’ for the then New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation alongside other significant Māori leaders such as Mira Szaszy and (later Sir) Robert Mahuta.

[25] Following his death, Dr. Kathie Irwin offered the following tribute: “I think also one of the beautiful things our students still talk about to this day is his dedication to humanity.

'”[1]In 1974, Royal was awarded a Kelloggs Foundation grant to study education administration at the University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia.

It was read by Professor Arohia Durie and includes the following statement:[30] Many New Zealanders have made substantial contributions to education but relatively few have sustained active leadership in the field for more than fifty years.

By identifying language, culture, and community voice as determinants of successful learning, he was instrumental in building a pathway for educational inclusion that was entirely consistent with the nation’s increasingly diverse population.

Specifically the award is given to those whose actions contribute significantly to the revitalisation of the Forum’s values including: Rangatiratanga, Whanaungatanga, Manaakitanga, Kaitiakitanga, Tikanga and Pono.