King Kamehameha V
During the period of time [1864-1918] when Father Damien and Mother Marianne lived in Hawaii, the following monarchs ruled the Kingdom:
King Lot Kamehameha V
1830 - 1872
Brother to Kamehameha IV, Lot Kamehameha was the final direct descendant of Kamehameha the Great to sit on Hawaii's throne and the last Hawaiian monarch to reign in the old style. After him, Hawaii's rulers were elected by the Hawaiian Legislature. Problems with the United States continued as they had during his brother's reign. Agitation by certain elements in favor of annexation by the U.S. threatened Hawaii's independence. Lot tried to defuse relations by promoting a treaty of reciprocity that would allow Hawaiian sugar to enter the American market duty-free. The Civil War had cut the Union off from Southern sugar and so there was a great demand from the North for sugar. Racial troubles increased in Lot's era due to well-founded suspicions that the Whites were trying to take over the Kingdom. In 1866, a fist fight broke out in the Legislature between White and Hawaiian members. Such an incident was probably long overdue for it was a most peculiar legislature wherein white legislators refused to speak Hawaiian, the kingdom's official language, and native Hawaiian members refused to use English. Lot never married and had no child, and died without naming a successor.
[Note: The Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy was enacted by King Kamehameha V].
King Lunalilo
1835 - 1874
William Lunalilo was confirmed as King of Hawaii by the Hawaiian Legislature after an informal popular vote. Lunalilo was more liberal than his predecessor and made serious efforts to democratize the constitution. Once again, the question of the treaty of reciprocity with the U.S. rose. The Hawaiian sugar industry needed a natural market like the United States to absorb its increasing production. King Lunalilo allowed himself to endorse the cession of Pearl Harbor, though he felt it was an unwise accommodation to the powerful American giant. Once the news reached the Hawaiian public, they were outraged. Widespread disapproval of the idea forced its eventual abandonment. He died without naming a successor.
King David Kalakaua
1836 - 1891
King David Kalakaua was elected by the Hawaiian Legislature of 1874 amid scenes of violence and indignity. His rival for the throne was the dowager Queen Emma. King Kalakaua was concerned with the well-being of his native Hawaiian people. He maintained a policy of filling administrative posts with Hawaiians wherever possible, a practice that did little to calm the fears of American businessmen who had supported him against Queen Emma. While favoring his people, Kalakaua repeatedly and sincerely insisted that there was room in Hawaii for all kinds of people. King Kalakaua became known in Hawaiian history as the "Merry Monarch." He loved parties, balls and entertainment. He enjoyed talking to such noted visitors as Robert Louis Stevenson. He included mass dances of the ancient sacred hulas in his parties. Toward the end of his reign, his cabinet was overthrown, a new constitution deprived him of almost all his power, and an ill-fated insurrection took place favoring the abdication of Kalakaua and his replacement by Princess Lili'uokalani.
Queen Kapiolani
1834 - 1899
Kapiolani, formally Julia Kapiolani or Julia Kapi'olani Napelakapuokakae, was married to King David Kalakaua and reigned as Queen Consort of the Kingdom of Hawaii. She was the granddaughter of Kaumualii, the last king of the island of Kauai before being ceded to the unified Hawaiian Islands governed by Kamehameha the Great. She was also the step-daughter of Queen Regent Kaahumanu. Queen Julia Kapiolani's principal legacy was her establishment of the Kapi'olani Maternity Hospital for native Hawaiian mothers. It survives today as the Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children. The premier park in Waikiki also bears her name.
Queen Liliuokalani
1838 - 1917
During Father Damien's lifetime, Liliuokalani was the Princess Reagent. It was during Queen Liliuokalani's reign that the monarchy was overthrown. Mother Marianne lived to see the end of the Hawaiian monarchy.
She was already leading the nation as regent when King Kalakaua died in San Francisco. At the time that she became Queen, the political and economic climate was extremely complicated. Rivalry was intense between white businessmen who dominated the economy and native politicians who still retained the power to get things accomplished. The annexationists were badly outnumbered, and certainty the majority of the Hawaiian people, as well as many white residents, were against annexation. But the economic power structure was not intimidated by mere lack of popular support. On the whole, these businessmen were those who considered Hawaiians incapable of self-government. And, as businessmen, the annexationists believed that the monarchy was too inept to safeguard the interests of property and profits.
Lili'uokalani announced her intention to promulgate a new constitution which would restore the power of the monarchy. A Committee of Safety was formed by prominent annexationists. They took it upon themselves to create a provisional government and a militia. The Queen could have declared martial law and arrested the conspirators, but she felt that this would begin armed conflict which would result in loss of innocent lives. The Committee of Safety then made its move and armed companies of militia took over government buildings and offices. The evening before, marines and sailors from the U.S.S. Boston were landed to keep order in Honolulu and their commander, Captain G.C. Wiltse, openly supported the Provisionals. The Queen was powerless.
Finally on January 17, 1893, the Queen faced the inevitable and surrendered under protest. On January 31, Minister Stevens, at the request of the Provisional Government's advisory council, raised the U.S. flag over Honolulu. Annexation was thought to be a mere formality. President Cleveland's administration concluded that the monarchy had been overthrown by force with the complicity of the U.S. minister.
In 1895, Hawaiians loyal to the Queen staged a revolt in an attempt to restore Lili'uokalani to the throne. The revolt was soon crushed and the Queen was arrested and placed under detention in an apartment of her own I'olani Palace. She was also forced to relinquish any claim to the throne as a condition to obtain amnesty for the Hawaiian rebels.
President McKinley signed the resolution of annexation on July 7, 1898. It may have been a happy day for businessmen and new ruling classes of Hawaii, but for many others it was a day of sadness. Large numbers of royalists and common Hawaiians gathered quietly at the home of deposed Queen Lili'uokalani and Crown Princess Kaiulani to silently console them and pay homage to the last monarch of the forever-lost kingdom.
Princess Victoria Kaiulani
1875 - 1889
Victoria Ka‘iulani, formally Victoria Kawekiu Lunalilo Kalaninuiahilapalapa Ka‘iulani Cleghorn (October 16, 1875–March 6, 1899), was heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i and held the title of crown princess. Ka‘iulani became known throughout the world for her intelligence, beauty and determination. During the overthrow of her kingdom in 1893, she spearheaded a campaign to restore the monarchy by speaking before Congress and pleading with the President of the United States Benjamin Harrison and later Grover Cleveland. Her life story grew to legendary proportions after her untimely death.
Early Years
Victoria Ka‘iulani was born in Honolulu to Princess Miriam K. Likelike, sister to the reigning monarch of Hawai‘i, King David Kalakāua. It is through her mother that Ka‘iulani is descended from High Chief Kepo‘okalani, the first cousin of Kamehameha the Great. Ka‘iulani's father was a Scottish financier from Edinburgh and former Royal Governor of O‘ahu Archibald Cleghorn. Ka‘iulani was named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, whose help restored the sovereignty and independence of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i during the reign of Kamehameha III. The name Ka‘iulani translates from the Hawaiian language as the highest point of heaven. Upon her birth, Ka‘iulani was gifted the estate of ‘Āinahau in Waikīkī by her godmother, Princess Ruth Ke‘elikolani. Ka‘iulani became mistress of ‘Āinahau at the age of 12 upon the death of her mother.
Education
Because Princess Ka‘iulani was second in line to the throne after her aunt, Princess Lili‘uokalani, it was predicted that the young girl would eventually become Queen. King Kalākaua, Queen Kapi‘olani, Cleghorn, and Princess Lili‘uokalani talked about the issue and it was determined that it would be in the young Princess's best interests that she be given a British education. In 1889, at the age of 13, Ka‘iulani was sent to Northamptonshire, England to be given a private education. She excelled in her studies there. She continued to study in England for the next several years, despite the fact that she had originally been told that she would only be studying in Britain for one year.
Overthrow
During her absence, much turmoil occurred back in Hawai‘i. King Kalākaua passed away in 1891 and Princess Lydia Lili‘uokalani became Queen. Lili‘uokalani immediately appointed Ka‘iulani as her heir, and Ka‘iulani became the Crown Princess. In 1893, a revolution occurred and the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown. The news arrived to Ka‘iulani on January 30, 1893 in a short telegram that said: "'Queen Deposed', 'Monarchy Abrogated', 'Break News to Princess'".
Ka'iulani decided to take action and traveled to the United States the following month. She traveled through New York City and Boston where she attended numerous press conferences and banquets. She then went to Washington DC where she met with President Cleveland and his wife at the White House. She made a good impression and Cleveland promised to help her cause. Ka‘iulani felt satisfied that something would be done and returned to England. However, when Cleveland brought forth Ka‘iulani's case to Congress, the United States Senate refused to help. The situation in Hawai‘i did not improve, and Ka‘iulani grew impatient. Over the next few years, Ka‘iulani remained in Europe. There, she received news in 1894 that her childhood friend and famed author, Robert Louis Stevenson, had passed away and that Hawai‘i had become a republic. Her health slowly began to deteriorate. Ka‘iulani's health worsened when she learned that her half-sister, Annie Cleghorn, had passed away in 1897.
Late Years
Ka‘iulani returned to Hawai‘i in 1897. The return to a warmer climate did not help her health at all, as she had spent more than seven years in Europe. Her health continued to deteriorate as she struggled to readjust to the subtropical climate of the Hawaiian islands. However, she continued to make public appearances at the urging of her father.
Ka‘iulani was famous for her love of peacocks, and she kept the animals on her estate. For this reason, another name for her is the Peacock Princess.
In 1898, while on a horse ride in the mountains of Hawai‘i Island, she got caught in a storm and shortly came down with a fever. Ka‘iulani was brought back to the Island of O‘ahu where her health continued to decline. She passed away on March 6, 1899 at the age of 23.
After Death
Scottish poet Robert Louis Stevenson memorialized Ka‘iulani in an often quoted poem. "Forth from her land to mine she goes, the island maid, the island rose; light of heart and bright of face: the daughter of a double race. Her islands here, in southern sun, shall mourn their Kaiulani gone, and I, in her dear banyan shade, look vainly for my little maid. But our Scots islands far away shall glitter with unwonted day, and cast for once their tempests by to smile in Kaiulani's eye."
In 1999, a bronze statue cast by Jan Gordon Fisher was dedicated in the triangle park at Kanekapolei and Kuhio Avenues in Waikiki, Honolulu.
Source: Hawaiian Roots - The Monarchy
and
Answers.com - Kapiolani