Aides for the king of the country’s Indigenous Maori people said he died in hospital on Friday, Al Jazeera reported.
He had been recovering from heart surgery just days after celebrating the 18th anniversary of his coronation.
“The death of Kiingi Tuheitia is a moment of great sadness,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “A chief who has passed to the great beyond. Rest in love.”
The Kiingitanga – Maori King movement – was founded in 1858 with the aim of uniting New Zealand’s Indigenous Maori under a single sovereign.
The position has significant political and symbolic weight, but no legal status.
New Zealand media reported the king’s funeral was likely to take place next Thursday and that he would be buried alongside his mother, Queen Dame Te Atairangikaahu, and previous Maori kings on the sacred Taupiri Mountain.
SD/PR
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