The Last Queen of Hawaii
Lili’uokalani, the first and only queen of Hawaii, was the last sovereign to rule over the islands.
Her reign was ended, when she was deposed in a coup by foreign landowners in 1893, a move that was supported by the US military. A devoted monarch, she never wavered in her commitment to the people of Hawaii, even after she lost the throne.
Lili’uokalani was born in 1838 to Ali’i Analea Keohokálole and Caesar Kapa’akea, both high-ranking Hawaiian chiefs. Her family was related to the House of Kamehameha, the ruling dynasty of Hawaii. Her mother, Keohokálole, was an adviser of King Kamehameha III, who had signed the first fully written constitution of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1840. As a young girl, the future queen was known as Lydia Kamakaeha, having been given the English name Lydia at her baptism.
By the time of Lydia’s birth, Christianity had been established in the kingdom thanks to the arrival of missionaries.
