Le Pere d' Ubu Roi

Having recently gone through the miseries of the death of the king of Tonga this year, we see a notice from October of the anniversary of the passing of the father of Ubu the king. And you thought Alfred Jarry made up that name. Or you thought the production company for Frasier did. Salote Tupou, the queen of Tonga preceeding this king, was a figure even more dear. My friends at Niagara-on-the-Lake tell the story of her presence at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. It was raining. Nevertheless Queen Salote stood and waved to the people lining the streets. Queen Salote was an inposing figure. She stood 6 foot 3 inches and was solidly built. During the coronation, she rode in a carriage with some official of the foreign office who looked wet, small, and insignificant. Noel Coward and a friend were watching from an apartment along the coronation parade route. Coward's friend wondered who that was riding with Queen Salote. Noel glanced out the window and laconically replied, "Lunch."