Liliuokalani - Crown Princess

Crown Princess

In 1874, Lunalilo, who was elected to succeed Kamehameha V to the Hawaiian throne, died and left no heir to succeed to the throne. In the election that followed, Liliʻu's brother, David Kalākaua, ran against Emma, the widowed Queen of Kamehameha IV. Liliʻuokalani sided with her family on the issue and a quarrel developed between the Kalākaua family and Emma, and when her brother was declared king, great resentment develop between the two dynasties.

Upon his accession, Kalākaua gave royal titles and styles to his surviving siblings, his sisters, Princess Liliʻu and Princess Likelike, and his brother William Pitt Leleiohoku, making him Crown Prince and heir to the Hawaiian throne as Kalākaua had no children of his own. Leleiohoku died in 1877, leaving no one to succeed him. Hawaiʻi did not follow European monarchies by setting a line of succession; heirs had to be lawfully begotten or chosen and approved by the legislature. Leleiohoku's hānai mother Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani demanded that she be named heir as successor to her son's right, but Kalākaua wanted to keep the throne within his own immediate family and chose from his two remaining sisters. At noon on April 10, 1877, the sounds of the cannons were heard announcing Liliʻu as the newly designated heir apparent to the throne of Hawaiʻi. From that point on, she was referred to as "Crown Princess" with the name Liliʻuokalani, given to her by her brother, who thought her birth name was not regal enough for her future role as queen of Hawaiʻi. One of her first acts as Crown Princess was to tour the island of Oʻahu with her husband, sister, and brother-in-law.

In April 1887, Kalākaua sent a delegation to attend the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in London. While on the trip, she learned of the Bayonet Constitution that Kalākaua had been forced, under the threat of death, to sign. She was so upset that she canceled a tour of the rest of Europe and returned to Hawaiʻi at once.