Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa

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Abigail Kawānanakoa
Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa a0002554.jpg
Kawānanakoa in 2012
Born
Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa

(1926-04-23)April 23, 1926
Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii
DiedDecember 11, 2022(2022-12-11) (aged 96)
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Occupations
  • Rancher
  • equestrian
  • philanthropist
Spouse
Veronica Gail Worth
​
(m. 2017)​
Parents
FamilyKawānanakoa

Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa (April 23, 1926 – December 11, 2022; also known as "Princess Abigail Kawānanakoa" and sometimes called Kekau) was an Hawaiian\American heiress, equestrian, philanthropist and supporter of Native Hawaiian heritage, culture and arts, who was born during the Territorial Period of Hawaii as a descendent of the Hawaiian royal family from the House of Kawānanakoa.

Birth and early life[edit]

Kawānanakoa was the only child of Lydia Liliuokalani Kawānanakoa, born during her marriage to Irish-American William Jeremiah Ellerbrock.[1] Kawānanakoa was educated at Punahou School in Honolulu, the Shanghai American School in Shanghai from 1938 to 1939, and Notre Dame High School in Belmont, California, from which she graduated in 1943. She attended Dominican College in San Rafael, California, from 1943 to 1944, and studied at the University of Hawaii in 1945.[1][2]

Line of succession to the throne of Hawaii[edit]

The Kingdom of Hawaii's last two monarchs, Kalākaua and Liliʻuokalani were childless. Because of this, both monarchs named family members as heirs, including Princess Kaʻiulani, the daughter of Princess Miriam Likelike, sister of the two rulers.[3]

At the age of six, she was legally adopted by her grandmother, Princess Abigail Campbell Kawānanakoa, in the Hawaiian tradition of hānai with the intention that she remain a direct heir to a possible restoration of the kingdom.[4] She is a granddaughter of Prince David Kawānanakoa, the hānai adopted son of King Kalākaua. On February 10, 1883 David Kawānanakoa was granted the title of Prince and style of His Royal Highness by King Kalākaua through Letters Patent.[5][6]

With the adoption by her grandmother, Abigail became a daughter of Prince Kawānanakoa. Her genealogy firmly establishes her as a member of the Hawaiian royal family.[7] In 1986, she told writer Marilyn Kim that, had the kingdom continued, it was her cousin Edward A. Kawānanakoa who would have been heir to the Kawānanakoa\Kalākaua lines, as he was the first born of the oldest sibling, but joked that she would be the "power behind the throne."[8] Senator Daniel Inouye had described Abigail as; "..a member of the family with the closest blood ties to the Kalākaua Dynasty" however, author and professor of the University of Hawaii, Jon M. Van Dyke states in his book Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawai'i? that none of the Kawānanakoas have ever claimed an interest in the Crown Lands but acknowledges that they see themselves as the designated heirs of the Kalākaua line.[9]

Equine endeavors[edit]

Kawānanakoa was an expert horsewoman and owner of ranches in Hawaii, California, and Washington State. She was a 20-year cumulative breeder of AQHA quarter horses. Her horses' many victories include the 1993 All American Futurity (G1) with A Classic Dash and the 1995 Los Alamitos Million Futurity (G1, now the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity) with Evening Snow. After winning "the richest race in the quarter horse world", she retired A Classic Dash from racing to stand at her Lakeview Quarter Horse Ranch in California.[10] Due to her support of the equine medicine program at Colorado State University, in May 2016, she was awarded an honorary degree.[11]

Family legacy and philanthropy[edit]

Abigail Kawānanakoa as guest of honor at the Merrie Monarch Festival, 2013

Kawānanakoa was the president of the Friends of ʻIolani Palace from 1971 to 1998, succeeding her mother, who founded the organization. The palace was built by her adopted great-granduncle, King David Kalākaua. She was active in various causes for the preservation of native Hawaiian culture, including the restoration of 'Iolani Palace.[12]

Kawānanakoa was heiress to the largest stake in the estate of her great-grandfather, James Campbell, a 19th-century industrialist from Ireland. When the estate was converted into a corporation in 2007, her share was estimated to be about US$250 million.[13]

In 2013, Kawānanakoa requested to be buried in a new crypt at the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii at Mauna ʻAla directly adjacent to the Wyllie Tomb. The request was approved by the State Land Board in April 2013, but the decision became controversial in the Hawaiian community.[14][15][16]

She was a supporter of the Thirty Meter Telescope protests aimed at preventing the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope at Mauna Kea. She also helped subsidize the annual cost of Merrie Monarch Festival.[17]

Personal life[edit]

In 1952, Kawānanakoa was briefly engaged to Peter Perkins, a male model and star player on the Oahu polo team, although they did not marry.[18][17]

In October 2017, Kawānanakoa married Veronica Gail Worth in Honolulu. The couple were married in a ceremony performed at the home of Justice Steven Levinson.[19] In 2017 Kawānanakoa had a medical episode. In a handwritten letter by her to the media, she explained her firing of her former attorney James Wright.[20] Wright, a trustee for the multimillion-dollar Abigail K. K. Kawananakoa Revocable Living Trust, made accusations that Worth abused her 92-year-old spouse. Michael Rudy, Worth's attorney, and Michael A. Lilly, Kawānanakoa's attorney, both denied the allegations.[21] First Hawaiian Bank succeeded Wright as trustee in 2018.[22]

Kawānanakoa died on December 11, 2022, at age 96.[23] Her death was announced in the Hawaiian language at ʻIolani Palace. Governor Josh Green ordered all flags to be flown at half-staff out of respect for Kawānanakoa.[24]

Ancestry[edit]

Jonah PiʻikoiKekahiliKūhiō KalanianaʻoleKinoiki KekaulikeJohn Maipinepine BrightMary Kamai Hanaike
David Kahalepouli PiikoiVictoria Kūhiō Kinoiki KekaulikeJames CampbellAbigail Kuaihelani Maipinepine Bright
David KawānanakoaAbigail Campbell Kawānanakoa
* Legally adopted mother of Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa
William Jeremiah EllerbrockLydia Liliuokalani Kawānanakoa
Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Buker, Betty Finley (1972). Men and Women of Hawaii. Vol. 9. Honolulu: Star-Bulletin Print. Company. p. 303. OCLC 235875044.
  2. ^ Bowman, Pierre (June 23, 1985). "Royal and Regal". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Honolulu. p. 35. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  3. ^ Dyke, Jon M. Van (2008). Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawaiʻi?. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. p. 369. ISBN 978-0-8248-3211-7.
  4. ^ Dyke, Jon M. Van (2008). Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawaiʻi?. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. p. 370. ISBN 978-0-8248-3211-7.
  5. ^ Forbes, David W. (2017). "In Haste with Aloha: Letters and Diaries of Queen Emma, 1881–1885". University of Hawaii Press. p. 199. ISBN 9780824857837. OCLC 953708540.
  6. ^ Stacker, J.T. (1914). "Mid-Pacific Magazine". Hawaiian Royalty. Alexander Hume Ford. 8 (1): 188.
  7. ^ Kam, Ralph Thomas (2017). Death Rites and Hawaiian Royalty: Funerary Practices in the Kamehameha and Kalakaua Dynasties, 1819-1953 Illustrated. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1476668468.
  8. ^ "The History of Hawai'i From Our Files: Abigail Kawānanakoa in 1986". Honolulu Magazine. November 11, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  9. ^ Dyke, Jon M. Van (2008). Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawaiʻi?. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. pp. 369–370. ISBN 978-0-8248-3211-7.
  10. ^ "AQHA: Champion of Champions Qualifier Profile: Divide The Cash". December 2, 2010. Archived from the original on March 18, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  11. ^ "CSU confers honorary degree to Princess Abigail Kawananakoa – SOURCE". May 9, 2016.
  12. ^ Pang, Gordon Y.K. (October 4, 2007). "Heiress pays to stop party at Hawaii palace". Honolulu Advertiser. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
  13. ^ Daysog, Rick (June 11, 2006). "The great divide". Honolulu Advertiser. Archived from the original on March 26, 2010. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  14. ^ Cruz, Catherine (April 22, 2013). "Abigail Kawananakoa pushes for new crypt at Mauna 'Ala". KITV News. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013.
  15. ^ Cruz, Catherine (April 26, 2013). "Land board approves burial crypt for Abigail Kawananakoa". KITV News. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013.
  16. ^ Zoellick, Sarah (June 9, 2013). "Sacred Grounds". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  17. ^ a b Downey, Kirstin (October 11, 2017). "The Last Hawaiian Princess?". Honolulu Civil Beat. Honolulu. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  18. ^ "Peter Perkins To Wed Kekaulike Kawananakoa". The Honolulu Advertiser. Honolulu. April 26, 1952. p. 1. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  19. ^ "Kawananakoa marries longtime partner amid court battle". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. October 2, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  20. ^ Huff, Daryl. "Lawyer disputes allegation he's trying to take control of $200M Kawananakoa estate". Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  21. ^ Daysog, Rick. "In ongoing estate battle, heiress Kawananakoa's partner accused of abuse". Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  22. ^ Kelleher, Jennifer Sinco (September 10, 2018). "Judge appoints bank trustee for Hawaiian heiress' millions". The Seattle Times. Associated Press.
  23. ^ Armstrong, Kathryn (December 13, 2022). "'Last Hawaiian princess' Abigail Kawānanakoa dies with $215m in wealth". BBC News. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  24. ^ "Hawaiian royal heiress Abigail Kawananakoa dies at 96". Hawaii News Now. December 12, 2022.

External links[edit]

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