She was the eldest daughter and fifth child of Queen Pōmare IV of Tahiti and her second husband Prince Consort Ariʻifaʻaite.

Raised in Papeete with her brothers, she was barely a year old when Admiral Abel Aubert Du Petit-Thouars, commander of the French fleet in Oceania, annexed the Marquesas Islands and declared war on the Kingdom of Tahiti.

The land had been provided for the family by Queen Pōmare's cousin, the reigning Raiatean King Tamatoa IV.

On 5 December 1832, Pōmare was married again, this time to her first cousin, Tenaniʻa Ariʻifaʻaite a Hiro, Maevarua’s father.

In 1843, King Tapoa II, having no biological children, asked the Queen of Tahiti, his closest relative, to choose an heir from among her offspring.

King Tapoa II, took care of completing her education by employing British tutors for the princess.

Teri'i-maeva-rua’s next brother, Tamatoa, had, much like herself, been adopted by the childless king of Raiatea, and ruled the kingdom until his deposition in 1871.

The German Empire’s aims at colonial expansion, particularly in the Pacific, became a serious threat to the interests of the French Republic.

In 1888, France and Britain agreed to abrogate their previous treaty and allow the French to annex the Leeward Islands.