Helen Lydia Kamakaʻeha Liliʻuokalani Kawānanakoa (July 22, 1905 – May 19, 1969) was a member of the

House of Kawānanakoa The House of Kawānanakoa, or the Kawānanakoa Dynasty, are descendants to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. Origins A collateral branch of the reigning House of Kalākaua (from Kauaʻi island) and descendants of chiefs of areas such as ...

and the second daughter of

David Kawānanakoa David Laʻamea Kahalepouli Kinoiki Kawānanakoa (February 19, 1868 – June 2, 1908) was a prince of the Hawaiian Kingdom and founder of the House of Kawānanakoa. He was in the line of succession to the Hawaiian throne. After Hawaii's annexatio ...

and Abigail Campbell Kawānanakoa.

Early life

Born July 22, 1905, Liliʻuokalani Kawānanakoa was named after

Queen Liliʻuokalani Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

, the last monarch of Hawaii. Having been born after the abolition of the monarchy, she had no official royal title; however, she was still known by many in the Hawaiian community as Princess Liliuokalani. She attended a convent school in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. During her youth, she was known as the "

flapper Flappers were a subculture of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee height was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered accepta ...

" princess and sported the then-fashionable

bobbed hair A bob cut, also known as a bob, is a short to medium length haircut, in which the hair is typically cut straight around the head at approximately jaw level, but no longer than shoulder-length, often with fringe or bangs at the front. The standa ...

. Her siblings were David Kalākaua Kawānanakoa and Abigail Kapiʻolani Kawānanakoa.

Marriages and family

Liliʻuokalani married five times. Her first marriage was to Dr. William Jeremiah Ellerbrock on January 17, 1925, at

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

. The couple had one daughter before divorcing in 1927: *

Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa (April 23, 1926December 11, 2022), also known as Princess Abigail Kawānanakoa and sometimes called Kekau, was a Native Hawaiian-American heiress, equestrian, philanthropist and supporter of Native Hawaiia ...

(1926–2022). Following the divorce, Abigail was adopted by Liliʻuokalani's mother. Her second marriage was to Charles James Brenham at Niu, August 11, 1928; they also divorced. Her third husband was newspaperman Clark Lee, whom she married in 1938; Lee died of a heart attack in 1953. Her fourth husband, whom she married in 1954, was Charles E. Morris Jr; the couple divorced in 1959, and remarried in 1968.

Legacy and death

She was the founder of the Kona Hawaiian Civic Club in 1952 and was the founder and First President of Friends of

ʻIolani Palace The Iolani Palace ( haw, Hale Aliʻi ʻIolani) was the royal residence of the rulers of the Kingdom of Hawaii beginning with Kamehameha III under the Kamehameha Dynasty (1845) and ending with Queen Liliʻuokalani (1893) under the Kalākaua D ...

from 1966 to 1969. She died of cancer at her home in Waialae, Honolulu, on May 19, 1969. At her request, her funeral was a private ceremony with none of the pomp or displays of former Hawaiian royal funerals. She is buried at Nuʻuanu Memorial Park.

References

1905 births 1969 deaths House of Kawānanakoa Pretenders to the Hawaiian throne Hawaiian princesses Deaths from cancer in Hawaii Burials at Nuʻuanu Memorial Park American monarchists {{Hawaii-royal-stub