Born September 22, 1869, at
Papeete, Princess Teriivaetua was the second daughter of
Tamatoa V and Moe-a-Mai. Her father was the second surviving son of the reigning Queen
Pōmare IV and had served as the king of the neighboring islands of
Raiatea and
Tahaa before being deposed by the natives because of his cruel rule. Her mother was the daughter Maheanuu a Mai and Teriitaumaiterai and thus related to the chiefly Mai family of
Bora Bora and the Teva clan of southern Tahiti. Princess Teriivaetua had an older sister name Teriiourumaona, who had been given the name Pōmare VI by their grandmother in hope that she would one day be queen after their childless uncle
Pōmare V. She also had a younger brother named Tamatoa that died young and three younger sisters:
Teriimaevarua III, who would succeed their aunt on the throne of Bora Bora, Princess Teriʻinavahoroa, and Princess ʻAimata. After her elder sister's death, Teriivaetua took her older sister Teriiourumaona's place in the succession directly after her uncle, the then Crown Prince Ari'iaue, and before her cousin Prince Hinoi, the only son of Queen Pōmare IV's youngest son
Prince Joinvile. The line of succession was thus established in the year her grandmother died. Following the wishes of the dead queen, it was decided that she and her cousin would take precedence over any children born to her uncle, the newly crowned King
Pōmare V and his part-English wife
Queen Marau in order to secure a pure-Tahitian heir to the throne. The decision was ratified by the Legislative Assembly of Tahiti and the French Admiral Paul Serre. Because of her status as the future Queen of Tahiti, she was sent to the island of
Moorea to be raised by the
Protestant mission in the house of pastor Prosper Brun. These events became obsolete after the end of the Tahitian monarchy. On June 29, 1880, her uncle King Pōmare V gave Tahiti and its dependencies to France, whereupon he and the entire royal family were given pensions by the French government. The young princess Teriivaetua and her younger sister Princess Teriʻinavaroa both received an annual pension of twelve-thousand
francs from the French government in the annexation treaty. == Marriage and children ==