by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

The Hawaiian Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean, were originally divided into several independent chiefdoms. The Kingdom of Hawaii was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great of the independent island of Hawaii, conquered the independent islands of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and Lanai, and unified them under one government and ruled as Kamehameha I, King of the Hawaiian Islands. In 1810, the whole Hawaiian archipelago became unified when Kauai and Niihau voluntarily joined the Kingdom of Hawaii. Two major dynastic families ruled the kingdom: the House of Kamehameha and the House of Kalākaua.

In 1778, British explorer James Cook visited the islands. This led to increased trade and the introduction of new technologies and ideas. In the mid-19th century, American influence in Hawaii dramatically increased when American merchants, missionaries, and settlers arrived on the islands. Protestant missionaries converted most of the native people to Christianity. Merchants set up sugar plantations and the United States Navy established a base at Pearl Harbor. The newcomers brought diseases that were new to the indigenous people including influenza, measles, smallpox, syphilis, tuberculosis, and whooping cough. At the time of James Cook’s arrival in 1778, the indigenous Hawaiian population is estimated to have been between 250,000 and 800,000. By 1890, the indigenous Hawaiian population declined had to less than 40,000.

In 1893, a group of local businessmen and politicians composed of six non-native Hawaiian Kingdom subjects, five American nationals, one British national, and one German national overthrew Queen Liliʻuokalani, her cabinet, and her marshal, and took over the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii. This led to the 1898 annexation of Hawaii as a United States territory. On August 21, 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States.

In 1993, one hundred years after the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown, the United States Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed the Apology Resolution which “acknowledges that the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States and further acknowledges that the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over their national lands, either through the Kingdom of Hawaii or through a plebiscite or referendum”. As a result, the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, a grassroots political and cultural campaign to reestablish an autonomous or independent nation or kingdom in Hawaii, was established along with ongoing efforts to redress the indigenous Hawaiian population.

• Unofficial Royalty Index: Kingdom of Hawaii Index

********************

Kamehameha V, King of the Hawaiian Islands; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on December 11, 1830, in Honolulu on the island of Oahu in the Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands, now in the state of Hawaii, Kamehameha V, King of the Hawaiian Islands was the third of the five children and the third of the four sons of  High Chief Mataio Kekūanaōʻa, Royal Governor of Oʻahu, and Princess Elizabeth Kīnaʻu, daughter of Kamehameha I, King of the Hawaiian Islands and Queen Kalākua Kaheiheimālie.

Kamehameha V had four siblings:

• Prince David Kamehameha (1828 – 1835), died in childhood
• Prince Moses Kekūāiwa (1829 – 1848), died in his teens during a measles epidemic
• Kamehameha IV, King of the Hawaiian Islands (Alexander Liholiho ‘Iolanian) (1834 – 1863), married Emma Kalanikaumakaʻamano Kaleleonālani Naʻea Rooke, had one son who died in childhood
• Princess Victoria Kamāmalu (1838 – 1866), unmarried, was forbidden to marry by her brothers Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V

Both parents of Kamehameha IV were converts to Christianity so Kamehameha V was given the name Lot Kapuāiwa and was known as Lot which will be used for the rest of the article. Lot was adopted using the ancient Hawaiian tradition called hānai by Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena, the daughter of King Kamehameha I and Queen Keōpūolani. After Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena died in 1836, Lot was then adopted by his maternal grandmother Queen Kalākua Kaheiheimālie and step-grandfather High Chief Ulumāheihei Hoapili. He was not treated well by his hānai parents and developed a strong dislike for the hānai tradition.

Lot was educated by Congregationalist missionaries at the Chiefs’ Children’s School, later known as Royal School, in Honolulu, which is still in existence as a public elementary school, the Royal Elementary School, the oldest school on the island of Oahu. While he was a student at the Chiefs’ Children’s School, Lot and another student Abigail Maheha had a child, a daughter Keanolani, born in 1847. Although the father was never publicly identified, much circumstantial evidence points to Lot as the father.

Geritt P. Judd and his two royal charges: Prince Lot Kapuāiwa (left) and Prince Alexander Liholiho (right); Credit – Wikipedia

From 1849 to 1852, Lot traveled around the world with his brother Alexander Liholiho ‘Iolanian, the future King Kamehameha IV, and their guardian Gerrit P. Judd, an American physician and missionary who had become a citizen of Hawaii and an advisor and translator to King Kamehameha III. They set sail to San Francisco in September 1849. After they toured California, they continued to Panama, Jamaica, New York City, Washington, D C., and then they crossed the Atlantic Ocean and toured Europe. They met government leaders including American President Zachary Taylor and his Vice President Millard Fillmore, French President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (later Napoleon III, Emperor of the French), Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and British Foreign Secretary and future Prime Minister Lord Palmerston.  While in the United States, Alexander personally suffered racism, including when he was almost thrown out of his train car after being misidentified as a slave. His experiences with racism in the United States and the puritanical views of American missionaries in Hawaii influenced the anti-American views of Alexander and the Hawaiian royal family.

Upon returning to the Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands in 1852, Lot’s uncle King Kamehameha III appointed him to the Privy Council and the House of Nobles where he gained much governmental experience. On December 15, 1854, King Kamehameha III died and Lot’s 20-year-old brother Alexander succeeded him as King Kamehameha IV.

In 1862, Lot was officially added to the line of succession in an amendment to the 1852 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Lot and his heirs, followed by his sister Princess Victoria Kamāmalu and her heirs, would succeed in the case his brother died without any legitimate heirs. When Prince Albert Kamehameha, the only son of King Kamehameha IV, died on August 23, 1862, Lot became the heir to the throne. On November 30, 1863, Lot’s brother, 29-year-old brother King Kamehameha IV died, and Lot succeeded him as Kamehameha V, King of the Hawaiian Islands.

Kamehameha V addressing the legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom, circa 1867; Credit – Wikipedia

During Lot’s reign, the 1864 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii was passed. It changed the way Hawaii’s government worked by increasing the power of the king and changing the way the kingdom’s legislature worked. Lot encouraged the revival of some traditional practices by having the laws against Kahunaism repealed. A kahuna was an expert in any field. In 1865, Lot refused to give his assent to a bill that would allow foreign merchants the right to sell liquor directly to native Hawaiians saying: “I will never sign the death warrant of my people.” Alcoholism was one of the many causes of the already declining population of the native Hawaiians.

Travel to the Hawaiian Islands increased during Lot’s reign. The American author Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) came in March 1866 and stayed for four months. He wrote articles sent to the California newspaper the Sacramento Union describing Hawaii. He described Lot: “He was a wise sovereign; he had seen something of the world; he was educated & accomplished, & he tried hard to do well by his people, & succeeded. There was no trivial royal nonsense about him; He dressed plainly, poked about Honolulu, night or day, on his old horse, unattended; he was popular, greatly respected, and even beloved.” In 1869, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom sent her second son Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh on a state visit.

Lot’s sister Princess Victoria Kamāmalu; Credit – Wikipedia

Lot never married. He named his sister Princess Victoria Kamāmalu as his heir, however, neither of her brothers had allowed her to marry. Victoria died in 1866 and Lot never named another successor. As he lay dying on December 11, 1872, his forty-second birthday, he told those who came to visit him, “It is hard to die on my birthday, but God’s will be done.” He offered the throne to his cousin Bernice Pauahi Bishop but she refused, and he died an hour later without naming his successor. Because of this, the Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom chose the next monarch from the eligible royal family members. Lot’s cousin William Charles Lunalilo, a Kamehameha by birth from his mother, became the first elected King of the Hawaiian Kingdom and reigned as Lunalilo, King of the Hawaiian Islands for only a year before he died.

In the background, the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla, now a chapel; Credit – Wikipedia

Lot was interred in the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla (Fragrant Hills) in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu. On November 9, 1887, after the Royal Mausoleum became too crowded, the caskets of the members of the House of Kamehameha were moved to the newly built Kamehameha Tomb, an underground vault, under the Kamehameha Dynasty Tomb. Two additional underground vaults were built over the years. In 1922, the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla was converted to a chapel after the last royal remains were moved to tombs constructed on the grounds.

Kamehameha Dynasty Tomb – Royal Mausoleum, Honolulu, Hawai; Credit – By Daderot. – Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1101293

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• Flantzer, Susan. (2024). Kamehameha IV, King of the Hawaiian Islands. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/kamehameha-iv-king-of-the-hawaiian-islands/
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2024). Kamehameha V. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamehameha_V
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Royal Mausoleum (Mauna ʻAla). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Mausoleum_(Mauna_%CA%BBAla)
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Hawaiian Kingdom. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

The Hawaiian Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean, were originally divided into several independent chiefdoms. The Kingdom of Hawaii was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great of the independent island of Hawaii, conquered the independent islands of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and Lanai, and unified them under one government and ruled as Kamehameha I, King of the Hawaiian Islands. In 1810, the whole Hawaiian archipelago became unified when Kauai and Niihau voluntarily joined the Kingdom of Hawaii. Two major dynastic families ruled the kingdom: the House of Kamehameha and the House of Kalākaua.

In 1778, British explorer James Cook visited the islands. This led to increased trade and the introduction of new technologies and ideas. In the mid-19th century, American influence in Hawaii dramatically increased when American merchants, missionaries, and settlers arrived on the islands. Protestant missionaries converted most of the native people to Christianity. Merchants set up sugar plantations and the United States Navy established a base at Pearl Harbor. The newcomers brought diseases that were new to the indigenous people including influenza, measles, smallpox, syphilis, tuberculosis, and whooping cough. At the time of James Cook’s arrival in 1778, the indigenous Hawaiian population is estimated to have been between 250,000 and 800,000. By 1890, the indigenous Hawaiian population declined had to less than 40,000.

In 1893, a group of local businessmen and politicians composed of six non-native Hawaiian Kingdom subjects, five American nationals, one British national, and one German national overthrew Queen Liliʻuokalani, her cabinet, and her marshal, and took over the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii. This led to the 1898 annexation of Hawaii as a United States territory. On August 21, 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States.

In 1993, one hundred years after the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown, the United States Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed the Apology Resolution which “acknowledges that the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States and further acknowledges that the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over their national lands, either through the Kingdom of Hawaii or through a plebiscite or referendum”. As a result, the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, a grassroots political and cultural campaign to reestablish an autonomous or independent nation or kingdom in Hawaii, was established along with ongoing efforts to redress the indigenous Hawaiian population.

• Unofficial Royalty Index: Kingdom of Hawaii Index

********************

Emma, Queen Consort of the Hawaiian Islands, circa 1880; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on January 2, 1836, in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, then in the Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands, Emma Kalanikaumakaʻamano Kaleleonālani Naʻea Rooke was the only surviving child of the three children of High Chief George Naʻea and High Chiefess Fanny Kekelaokalani Young. Queen Emma is known for having a long-term friendship via letters with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. The two Queens met in the United Kingdom in 1865.

Emma’s two full siblings died young but she had an elder half-sister from her mother’s marriage/relationship with Henry Coleman Lewis:

• Mary Polly Paʻaʻāina (circa 1833 – 1853), married American James Augustus Griswold who became a Hawaiian citizen, had one child Mary Paʻaʻāina Griswold

Emma’s father George Naʻea was a high chief of the Kingdom of Hawaii and was descended from the high chiefs of the northern area of the island of Hawaii. He served under King Kamehameha III as a member of his Council of Chiefs. Emma’s mother Fanny Kekelaokalani Young was the daughter of High Chiefess Kaʻoanaʻeha, a niece of King Kamehameha I, and the British-born John Young who was an important military advisor to King Kamehameha I during the formation of the Kingdom of Hawaii. John Young had first come to Hawaii in 1789 on an American trading ship and spent the rest of his life in Hawaii.

Emma with her adoptive parents Dr. Thomas Rooke and Grace Kamaʻikuʻi Young in 1853, Credit – Wikipedia

Emma was adopted under the Hawaiian tradition of hānai by her childless maternal aunt, High Chiefess Grace Kamaʻikuʻi Young, and her husband Dr. Thomas Rooke, a British physician – hence Emma’s surname of Rooke. The Rookes built a splendid home, Rooke House, that faced the Nuʻuanu Valley, on the island of Oahu. Rooke House, one of the largest private homes in Honolulu at the time, had a large library and was used for Dr. Rooke’s medical practice and entertaining guests. It was at Rooke House that Emma grew up with elaborate dinners, parties, teas, and receptions attended by important guests including members of the Hawaiian royal family.

Emma was raised as a Christian and was first educated by Congregationalist missionaries at the Chiefs’ Children’s School, later known as the Royal School, in Honolulu, which is still in existence as a public elementary school, the Royal Elementary School, the oldest school on the island of Oahu. It was at this school that Emma met her future husband King Kamehameha IV, known as Alexander. After the Chiefs’ Children’s School ceased to be a boarding school, Emma was educated at home by an English governess, Sarah Rhodes von Pfister. Dr. Rooke had an extensive library and influenced Emma’s interest in reading and books. At the age of twenty, Emma was quite an accomplished young woman. A skilled equestrian, Emma excelled at singing, dancing, and playing the piano.

Emma’s husband, Kamehameha IV, King of the Hawaiian Islands; Credit – Wikipedia

On December 15, 1854, King Kamehameha III died and his 20-year-old nephew Alexander Liholiho ‘Iolanian, succeeded him as King Kamehameha IV. Alexander was the son of High Chief Mataio Kekūanaōʻa, Royal Governor of Oʻahu, and Princess Elizabeth Kīnaʻu, daughter of King Kamehameha I. He had been adopted by his uncle King Kamehameha III who had no surviving sons. His uncle proclaimed Alexander as heir to the throne and raised him as the crown prince. On June 19, 1856, 20-year-old Emma became Queen of the Hawaiian Islands when she married 22-year-old King Kamehameha IV, known as Alexander. Some at the Hawaiian royal court felt Emma’s British descent made her unfit to be the Hawaiian queen and her lineage was not suitable enough to be Alexander’s wife.

Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Leiopapa a Kamehameha, who wanted to be a fireman, in his fireman outfit on May 1, 1862; Credit – Wikipedia

Emma and Alexander had one son, Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa a Kamehameha, born on May 20, 1858. He was named in honor of Queen Victoria’s eldest son Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII. Alexander had met Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert – he did not meet Queen Victoria because she was about to give birth to her son Prince Arthur – on an around-the-world trip from 1849 to 1852. Queen Victoria agreed to become Albert Edward’s godmother by proxy and sent an elaborate silver christening cup.

The Queen’s Hospital in 1860; Credit – Wikipedia

Emma and Alexander were concerned that foreign diseases like measles, leprosy, and influenza were decimating the native Hawaiian population but the legislature refused to pass a healthcare plan. Emma and Alexander then lobbied businessmen, merchants, and wealthy residents to fund their healthcare plans. The fundraising was very successful and in 1859, The Queen’s Hospital in Honolulu was founded. Today it is known as The Queen’s Medical Center and is the largest private hospital in Hawaii.

Alexander and Emma (left) and Bishop Staley (next to them) on a stained glass window at St. Andrew’s Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1860, Emma and Alexander petitioned the Church of England (also known as Anglican, the Episcopal Church in the United States is the same denomination) to help establish the Church of Hawaii. Upon the arrival of Anglican Bishop Thomas Nettleship Staley and two Anglican priests in 1862, the Church of Hawaii became the official royal church. After Alexander’s death, Emma continued their work by raising funds for the construction of St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Honolulu.

Sadly, four-year-old  Prince Albert Edward died on August 27, 1862, at ʻIolani Palace, Honolulu, Oʻahu in Honolulu, possibly from meningitis but at a later time appendicitis was thought to be a more likely possibility. He was temporarily interred in a tomb in front of the palace below a tamarind tree. The mausoleum constructed near the ʻIolani Palace in Honolulu had become crowded and Alexander ordered that a new, larger mausoleum be built.

Alexander blamed himself for the 1862 death of his son Prince Albert Edward and he withdrew from public life. His continuing grief and worsening asthma contributed to his death on November 30, 1863, in Honolulu, Oahu, Kingdom of Hawaii, at the age of twenty-nine. Alexander’s burial was delayed until the west wing of the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla (Fragrant Hills), was completed in January 1864. On February 3, 1864, Alexander’s casket was interred in the completed west wing. Later in the evening, the casket of his son Prince Albert Edward was interred next to his father. Emma was so overcome with grief that she slept in the mausoleum that night.

Queen Emma taken by famous American photographer Matthew Brady on August 1, 1866 while Emma was traveling in the United States. She is wearing the widow’s weeds Queen Victoria mentions in her 1865 journal entry below; Credit – Wikipedia

Queen Emma and Queen Victoria became long-term friends. They exchanged letters and commiserated over the loss of their husbands, the loss of Emma’s son, and the hemophilia of Queen Victoria’s youngest son Prince Leopold who would die from hemophilia complications in 1884, a year before Emma’s death. On her trip to Europe and the United States in 1865 – 1866, Emma met Queen Victoria on September 9, 1865, and again on November 27, 1865, when she spent a night at Windsor Castle. Queen Victoria wrote about their first meeting in her journal:

After luncheon, I received Queen Emma, the widowed Queen of the Sandwich Islands or Hawaii. Met her in the Corridor & nothing could be nicer or more dignified than her manner. She is dark, but not more so than an Indian, with fine feathers [features?] & splendid soft eyes. She was dressed in just the same widow’s weeds as I wear. I took her into the White Drawing room, where I asked her to sit down next to me on the sofa. She was moved when I spoke to her of her great misfortune in losing her only child.

Emma with Anglican church clergy in Oxford, England 1866; Credit –  Wikipedia

From 1865 – 1866, Emma traveled to Europe, the United States, and Canada for her health and to raise funds for the growing Anglican Church of Hawaii. She visited London twice, spent the winter in the French Riviera, and visited Paris, Italy, Germany, and Ireland where she departed for the United States. While in Europe, Emma met with Queen Victoria, as already noted, and  Napoleon III, Emperor of the French and his wife Empress Eugénie, Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden and his wife Grand Duchess Luise, along with other royalty, government officials and Anglican clergy.

On August 14, 1866, American President Andrew Johnson and First Lady Eliza McCardle Johnson gave a reception for Emma at the White House. Secretary of State William Seward hosted a state dinner for Emma at his home on August 18, 1866. The following evening, she attended a private dinner at the White House with President Andrew Johnson, his family, and William Seward. While in Washington, Emma also met with American indigenous representatives including the Choctaw Chief Peter Pitchlynn and delegations of Chickasaw and Cherokee.

While in Montreal, Canada, Emma received a telegram informing her that her adoptive mother and maternal aunt Grace Kamaʻikuʻi Young Rooke had died on July 26, 1866. This prompted her to end her trip and return to Hawaii. On her return trip, she traveled from New York to Panama and then to California. In San Francisco, the United States government dispatched the USS Vanderbilt to bring her back to Honolulu, where she arrived on October 22, 1866.

In 1874, after a reign of only one year, Lunalilo, King of the Hawaiian Islands died without naming an heir. Because of this, the Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom would choose the next monarch from the eligible royal family members. Emma claimed that King Lunalilo had wanted her to succeed him, but died before a formal proclamation could be made. She decided to run in the election against David Kalākaua who had lost to Lunalilo in a similar election in 1873.

Many Hawaiians supported Emma not only because her husband was a member of the Kamehameha Dynasty, but because Emma was also closer in descent to Hawaii’s first king, Kamehameha I (the Great) than David Kalākaua. While the Hawaiian people supported Emma, it was the legislature that elected the new monarch. They favored Kalākaua, who won the election 39 – 6. News of Emma’s defeat caused a large riot called, the Honolulu Courthouse riot, in which thirteen legislators who voted for Kalākaua were severely injured, with one eventually dying of his injuries. To control the riot, American and British troops stationed on warships in Honolulu Harbor were landed with the permission of the Hawaiian government, and the rioters were arrested. Emma had no part in the riot, but the opinion was that she supported the actions of the rioters. David Kalākaua took his oath on February 13, 1874, and became Kalākaua, King of the Hawaiian Islands, becoming the first of the last two Hawaiian monarchs.

After the election, Emma retired from public life. She would eventually recognize Kalākaua as the rightful king but she never again spoke to his wife Queen Kapiʻolani. In 1883, Emma had the first of several small strokes. On April 25, 1885, Emma died from a series of strokes, aged 49, in Honolulu.

Queen Emma lying in state at the Kawaiahaʻo Church; Credit – Wikipedia

Emma lay in state at her home but one of her friends who had settled in Hawaii, Alexander Cartwright, a founding member of the New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club in the 1840s and a future member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, moved Emma’s casket to Kawaiahaʻo Church because he thought her house was not large enough for her funeral. Kawaiahaʻo Church was a Congregational church and Emma was a member of the Anglican Church of Hawaii. The members of the Kawaiahaʻo Church were none too happy that Emma’s coffin lay in state at their church. However, Alfred Willis, the Anglican Bishop of Honolulu conducted Emma’s funeral service at the Congregational church using the Anglican liturgy. Emma was interred in the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla (Fragrant Hills), next to her husband Alexander (King Kamehameha IV) and her son Prince Albert Edward.

In the background, the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla, now a chapel; Credit – Wikipedia

On November 9, 1887, after the Royal Mausoleum became too crowded, the caskets of the members of the House of Kamehameha were moved to the newly built Kamehameha Tomb, an underground vault, under the Kamehameha Dynasty Tomb. Two additional underground vaults were built over the years. In 1922, the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla was converted to a chapel after the last royal remains were moved to tombs constructed on the grounds.

Kamehameha Dynasty Tomb – Royal Mausoleum, Honolulu, Hawai; Credit – By Daderot. – Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1101293

Works Cited

• Flantzer, Susan. (2024). Kamehameha IV, King of the Hawaiian Islands. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/kamehameha-iv-king-of-the-hawaiian-islands/
• The New York Times/Obituary – Queen Emma. Wikisource, The Free Online Library. (n.d.). https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times/Obituary_-_Queen_Emma
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Albert Kamehameha. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Kamehameha
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Fanny Kekelaokalani. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Kekelaokalani
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2024). George Naea. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Naea
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2024). Kamehameha IV. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamehameha_IV
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Queen Emma of Hawaii. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Emma_of_Hawaii
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Royal Mausoleum (Mauna ʻAla). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Mausoleum_(Mauna_%CA%BBAla)
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Hawaiian Kingdom. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

The Hawaiian Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean, were originally divided into several independent chiefdoms. The Kingdom of Hawaii was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great of the independent island of Hawaii, conquered the independent islands of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and Lanai, and unified them under one government and ruled as Kamehameha I, King of the Hawaiian Islands. In 1810, the whole Hawaiian archipelago became unified when Kauai and Niihau voluntarily joined the Kingdom of Hawaii. Two major dynastic families ruled the kingdom: the House of Kamehameha and the House of Kalākaua.

In 1778, British explorer James Cook visited the islands. This led to increased trade and the introduction of new technologies and ideas. In the mid-19th century, American influence in Hawaii dramatically increased when American merchants, missionaries, and settlers arrived on the islands. Protestant missionaries converted most of the native people to Christianity. Merchants set up sugar plantations and the United States Navy established a base at Pearl Harbor. The newcomers brought diseases that were new to the indigenous people including influenza, measles, smallpox, syphilis, tuberculosis, and whooping cough. At the time of James Cook’s arrival in 1778, the indigenous Hawaiian population is estimated to have been between 250,000 and 800,000. By 1890, the indigenous Hawaiian population declined had to less than 40,000.

In 1893, a group of local businessmen and politicians composed of six non-native Hawaiian Kingdom subjects, five American nationals, one British national, and one German national overthrew Queen Liliʻuokalani, her cabinet, and her marshal, and took over the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii. This led to the 1898 annexation of Hawaii as a United States territory. On August 21, 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States.

In 1993, one hundred years after the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown, the United States Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed the Apology Resolution which “acknowledges that the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States and further acknowledges that the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over their national lands, either through the Kingdom of Hawaii or through a plebiscite or referendum”. As a result, the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, a grassroots political and cultural campaign to reestablish an autonomous or independent nation or kingdom in Hawaii, was established along with ongoing efforts to redress the indigenous Hawaiian population.

• Unofficial Royalty Index: Kingdom of Hawaii Index

********************

Kamehameha IV, King of the Hawaiian Islands; Credit – Wikipedia

Kamehameha IV, King of the Hawaiian Islands was born on February 9, 1834, in Honolulu on the island of Oahu in the Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands. He was the fourth of the five children and the fourth of the four sons of High Chief Mataio Kekūanaōʻa, Royal Governor of Oʻahu, and Princess Elizabeth Kīnaʻu, daughter of Kamehameha I, King of the Hawaiian Islands and Kalākua Kaheiheimālie.

Kamehameha IV had four siblings:

• David Kamehameha (1828 – 1835), died in childhood
• Moses Kekūāiwa (1829 – 1848), died in his teens during a measles epidemic
• Kamehameha V, King of the Hawaiian Islands (Lot Kapuāiwa) (1830 – 1872), unmarried
• Victoria Kamāmalu (1838 – 1866), unmarried, was forbidden to marry by her brothers Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V

Both parents of Kamehameha IV were converts to Christianity, and so Kamehameha IV was given the name Alekanetero, anglicized as Alexander. As a toddler, Alexander Liholiho ‘Iolanian, his full name, (Alexander will be used for the rest of the article) was adopted by his uncle King Kamehameha III who had no surviving sons. His uncle proclaimed Alexander as heir to the throne and raised him as the crown prince. While King Kamehameha III had a partial Christian upbringing and was torn between Christian guidelines and his desire to honor the old traditions, his nephew Alexander was raised as a Christian.

Alexander was educated by Congregationalist missionaries at the Chiefs’ Children’s School, later known as Royal School, in Honolulu, which is still in existence as a public elementary school, the Royal Elementary School, the oldest school on the island of Oahu. Alexander learned English and French, played the flute and the piano, and enjoyed singing, acting, and cricket. In 1848, he left the school to focus on studying law.

Geritt P. Judd and his two royal charges: Prince Lot Kapuāiwa (left) and Prince Alexander Liholiho (right); Credit – Wikipedia

From 1849 to 1852, Alexander traveled around the world with his brother Lot Kapuāiwa, the future King Kamehameha V, and their guardian Gerrit P. Judd, an American physician and missionary who had become a citizen of Hawaii and an advisor and translator to King Kamehameha III. They set sail to San Francisco in September 1849. After they toured California, they continued to Panama, Jamaica, New York City, Washington, D C., and then they crossed the Atlantic Ocean and toured Europe. They met government leaders including American President Zachary Taylor and his Vice President Millard Fillmore, French President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (later Napoleon III, Emperor of the French), Prince Albert (husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom – who did not meet Alexander because she was about to give birth to her son Prince Arthur), and British Foreign Secretary and future Prime Minister Lord Palmerston.  While in the United States, Alexander personally suffered racism, including when he was almost thrown out of his train car after being misidentified as a slave. His experiences with racism in the United States and the puritanical views of American missionaries in Hawaii influenced the anti-American views of Alexander and the Hawaiian royal family.

Upon returning to the Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands in 1852, Alexander’s uncle King Kamehameha III appointed him to the Privy Council and the House of Nobles where he gained much governmental experience. On December 15, 1854, King Kamehameha III died and 20-year-old Alexander succeeded him as King Kamehameha IV.

Alexander’s wife Queen Emma; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 19, 1856, Alexander married 20-year-old Emma Rooke, whom Alexander had met at the Chiefs’ Children’s School. Emma’s father was High Chief George Naʻea and her mother was High Chiefess Fanny Kekelaokalani Young. Emma’s maternal grandfather was the British-born John Young who was an important military advisor to King Kamehameha I during the formation of the Kingdom of Hawaii. John Young first came to Hawaii in 1789 on an American trading ship and spent the rest of his life in Hawaii. Some at the Hawaiian royal court felt Emma’s British descent made her unfit to be the Hawaiian queen and her lineage was not suitable enough to be Alexander’s wife.

Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Leiopapa a Kamehameha, who wanted to be a fireman, in his fireman outfit on May 1, 1862; Credit – Wikipedia

Alexander and Emma had one son, Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa a Kamehameha, born on May 20, 1858. He was named in honor of Queen Victoria’s eldest son Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII. Queen Victoria agreed to become Albert Edward’s godmother by proxy and sent an elaborate silver christening cup. Sadly, four-year-old Albert Edward died on August 27, 1862, at ʻIolani Palace, Honolulu, Oʻahu in Honolulu, possibly from meningitis but at a later time appendicitis was thought to be a more likely possibility. He was temporarily interred in a tomb in front of the palace below a tamarind tree. The mausoleum constructed for King Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu near the ʻIolani Palace in Honolulu had become crowded and Alexander ordered a new, larger mausoleum be built.

Alexander worried about the growing American population in the Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands and was concerned about the pressures that they could exert. He particularly worried about the sugar producers because they were pushing for the United States to annex the Hawaiian Islands so that there would be free trade. Alexander strongly felt that annexation would mean the end of the monarchy and the Hawaiian people. His concerns turned out to be prophetic in 1898 when Hawaii was annexed as a United States territory.

Alexander and Emma (left) and Bishop Staley (next to them) on a stained glass window at St. Andrew’s Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1860, Alexander and Emma petitioned the Church of England England (also known as Anglican, the Episcopal Church in the United States is the same denomination) to help establish the Church of Hawaii. Upon the arrival of Anglican Bishop Thomas Nettleship Staley and two Anglican priests in 1862, the Church of Hawaii became the official royal church. After Alexander’s death, Emma continued their work by raising funds for the construction of St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Honolulu.

The Queen’s Hospital in 1860; Credit – Wikipedia

Alexander and Emma were concerned that foreign diseases like measles, leprosy, and influenza were decimating the native Hawaiian population but the legislature refused to pass a healthcare plan. Alexander and Emma then lobbied businessmen, merchants, and wealthy residents to fund their healthcare plans. The fundraising was very successful and in 1859, The Queen’s Hospital in Honolulu was founded. Today it is known as The Queen’s Medical Center and is the largest private hospital in Hawaiʻi.

Alexander blamed himself for the 1862 death of his son Prince Albert Edward and he withdrew from public life. His continuing grief and worsening asthma contributed to his death on November 30, 1863, in Honolulu, Oahu, Kingdom of Hawaii, at the age of twenty-nine. Bishop Thomas Nettleship Staley presided over the funeral service.

In the background, the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla, now a chapel; Credit – Wikipedia

Alexander’s burial was delayed until the west wing of the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla (Fragrant Hills), was completed in January 1864. On February 3, 1864, Alexander’s casket was interred in the completed west wing. Later in the evening, the casket of his son Prince Albert Edward was interred next to his father. On October 30, 1865, the remains of past deceased royals were transferred in a torchlit ceremony at night to the new Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla (Fragrant Hills). On November 9, 1887, after the Royal Mausoleum became too crowded, the caskets of the members of the House of Kamehameha were moved to the newly built Kamehameha Tomb, an underground vault, under the Kamehameha Dynasty Tomb. Two additional underground vaults were built over the years. In 1922, the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla was converted to a chapel after the last royal remains were moved to tombs constructed on the grounds.

Kamehameha Dynasty Tomb – Royal Mausoleum, Honolulu, Hawai; Credit – By Daderot. – Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1101293

Queen Emma remained active in Hawaiian politics. With the end of the House of Kamehameha in 1874, Queen Emma ran unsuccessfully to become the Kingdom’s ruling monarch. She lost to David Kalākaua who would establish a dynasty of his own, the last to rule Hawaii. Queen Emma survived her husband by twenty-two years, dying in 1885 at the age of 49.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Albert Kamehameha. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Kamehameha
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2024). Kamehameha IV. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamehameha_IV
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Kekūanaōʻa. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kek%C5%ABana%C5%8D%CA%BBa
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Kīnaʻu. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C4%ABna%CA%BBu
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Queen Emma of Hawaii. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Emma_of_Hawaii
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Royal Mausoleum (Mauna ʻAla). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Mausoleum_(Mauna_%CA%BBAla)
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Hawaiian Kingdom. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

The Hawaiian Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean, were originally divided into several independent chiefdoms. The Kingdom of Hawaii was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great of the independent island of Hawaii, conquered the independent islands of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and Lanai, and unified them under one government and ruled as Kamehameha I, King of the Hawaiian Islands. In 1810, the whole Hawaiian archipelago became unified when Kauai and Niihau voluntarily joined the Kingdom of Hawaii. Two major dynastic families ruled the kingdom: the House of Kamehameha and the House of Kalākaua.

In 1778, British explorer James Cook visited the islands. This led to increased trade and the introduction of new technologies and ideas. In the mid-19th century, American influence in Hawaii dramatically increased when American merchants, missionaries, and settlers arrived on the islands. Protestant missionaries converted most of the native people to Christianity. Merchants set up sugar plantations and the United States Navy established a base at Pearl Harbor. The newcomers brought diseases that were new to the indigenous people, including influenza, measles, smallpox, syphilis, tuberculosis, and whooping cough. At the time of James Cook’s arrival in 1778, the indigenous Hawaiian population is estimated to have been between 250,000 and 800,000. By 1890, the indigenous Hawaiian population declined to less than 40,000.

In 1893, a group of local businessmen and politicians composed of six non-native Hawaiian Kingdom subjects, five American nationals, one British national, and one German national overthrew Queen Liliʻuokalani, her cabinet, and her marshal, took over the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii. This led to the 1898 annexation of Hawaii as a United States territory. On August 21, 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States.

In 1993, one hundred years after the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown, the United States Congress passed, and President Bill Clinton signed the Apology Resolution which “acknowledges that the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States and further acknowledges that the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over their national lands, either through the Kingdom of Hawaii or through a plebiscite or referendum”. As a result, the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, a grassroots political and cultural campaign to reestablish an autonomous or independent nation or kingdom in Hawaii, was established along with ongoing efforts to redress the indigenous Hawaiian population.

• Unofficial Royalty Index: Kingdom of Hawaii Index

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Queen Kalama; Credit – Wikipedia

Kalama Hakaleleponi Kapakuhaili was the only wife of King Kamehameha III of the Hawaiian Islands, son of King Kamehameha I and brother of King Kamehameha II. King Kamehameha III was the first Hawaiian king not to practice polygamy. Born March 17, 1817, in Kailua, on the island of Oahu, Kalama was the only child of Naihe Kukui Kapihe and Chiefess Iʻahuʻula, the younger sister of Charles Kanaʻina, who served on both the Privy Counsel as an advisor to the Kings of the Hawaiian Islands and in the House of Nobles. Kalama’s father was the Honolulu harbor master and admiral of the Hawaiian royal fleet. He accompanied King Kamehameha II on his trip to London, where Kamehameha II and his favorite wife Kamāmalu both died from measles. Kalama’s father Naihe Kukui Kapihe did not return to Hawaii either. He accompanied the coffins of the late King and Queen as they traveled back to Hawaii on the British Royal Navy frigate HMS Blonde but he died on the voyage and was buried at sea.

King Kamehameha III reigned during the transition of traditional Hawaiian practices to Christianity. He had a partial Christian upbringing and was torn between Christian guidelines and his desire to honor the old traditions. His brother Kamehameha II and his favorite wife Kamāmalu were half-siblings and Kamehameha II was also closely related to his four other wives. Kamehameha III and many traditional chiefs wanted a marriage between the king and his sister Princess Nāhienaena. The missionaries opposed the marriage because they considered it incest. Kamanele, the daughter of John Adams Kuakini, the Royal Governor of Hawaii Island and Oahu, was proposed because of her suitability in age, rank, and education and because the family had converted to Christianity. However, Kamanele died in 1834 before the wedding took place. Kamehameha III then chose to marry Kalama. On February 14, 1837, in a Christian ceremony, Kamehameha III and Kalama were married.

King Kamehameha III and his wife Queen Kalama; Credit – Wikipedia

Kamehameha III and Kalama had two sons, but they both died in infancy and both were given the same name:

• Keaweaweʻulaokalani I (born and died 1839)
• Keaweaweʻulaokalani II (born and died 1842)

King Kamehameha III and Queen Kalama with Albert Kūnuiākea; Credit – Wikipedia

Kamehameha III and Kalama adopted Albert Kūnuiākea, the son of Kamehameha III and his mistress Jane Lahilahi, a Hawaiian high chiefess. They also adopted Alexander Liholiho, later King Kamehameha IV, whose mother Princess Kīnaʻu, also known as Elizabeth Kīnaʻu, was a daughter of Kamehameha I and a half-sister of Kamehameha III. Therefore, Alexander Liholiho was Kamehameha III’s nephew.

Hawaiian Royal Family: King Kamehameha III (center) and his wife, Queen Kalama (left); the future King Kamehameha IV (left rear), the future King Kamehameha V (right rear) and their sister Victoria Kamāmalu (right), circa 1853; Credit – Wikipedia

On December 15, 1854, at the ʻIolani Palace in Honolulu, Kamehameha III, King of the Hawaiian Islands suddenly died, aged 40, after a brief illness, possibly related to a stroke. He was succeeded by his nephew and adopted son Alexander Liholiho, who was styled as King Kamehameha IV.

Portrait of Queen Kalama by John Mix Stanley which hangs in the Grand Hall of Iolani Palace; Credit – Wikipedia

Kalama outlived her husband Kamehameha III and his nephew Kamehameha IV, and was known as the Queen Dowager. In 1869, during the reign of Kamehameha V, she welcomed Queen Victoria’s son Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh on his visit to the Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands. Meeting the prince as he disembarked his ship, she accompanied him in her state carriage with the drivers wearing royal feather shoulder capes, and the footmen dressed in royal fashion. Kalama skillfully managed her property and, at the time of her death, she owned more than 22,000 acres on the island of Oahu. In her will, her maternal uncle Charles Kanaʻina was declared the heir to her vast properties.

In the background, the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla, now a chapel; Credit – Wikipedia

Kamala, aged 53, died during the reign of Kamehameha V, on September 20, 1870, in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu. She was buried at Mauna ʻAla (Fragrant Hills), the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii in Honolulu, Oahu.

Kamehameha Dynasty Tomb – Royal Mausoleum, Honolulu, Hawai; Credit – By Daderot. Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1101293

On November 9, 1887, after the Royal Mausoleum became too crowded, the caskets of the members of the House of Kamehameha were moved to the newly built Kamehameha Tomb, an underground vault, under the Kamehameha Dynasty Tomb. Two additional underground vaults were built over the years. In 1922, the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla was converted to a chapel after the last royal remains were moved to tombs constructed on the grounds.

Inscriptions of Queen Consorts of Hawaii on the Kamehameha Dynasty Tomb; Credit – www.findagrave.com

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• Flantzer, Susan. (2024). Kamehameha III, King of the Hawaiian Islands. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/kamehameha-iii-king-of-the-hawaiian-islands/
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Kalama. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalama
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2024). Kalama. Wikipedia (Spanish). https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalama
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2022). Naihekukui. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naihekukui
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Royal Mausoleum (Mauna ʻAla). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Mausoleum_(Mauna_%CA%BBAla)
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Hawaiian Kingdom. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_Kingdom