HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Kawānanakoa household introduced that Princess Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa had handed away on Sunday, Dec. 11 at the age of 96.
Her dying was revealed to the general public on Monday at the Iolani Palace, America’s solely royal residence the place the Hawaiian monarchy dwelled however now serves principally as a museum. Kawānanakoa died peacefully in her Nu’uanu house the place her spouse Veronica Gail Kawānanakoa was by her aspect.
“Abigail will be remembered for her love of Hawai‘i and its people,” mentioned Veronica, “and I will miss her with all of my heart.”
Princess Abigail was the one baby of Princess Lydia Kamaka‘eha Liliu‘okulani Kawānanakoa Morris and William Jeremiah Ellerbrock.
She was born on April 23, 1926, in Honolulu and by the age of 5, the princess was legally adopted by her maternal grandmother, Princess Abigail Wahiika‘ahu‘ula Campbell Kawānanakoa. Her grandmother raised her within the regal ambiance of Hawaiian the Aristocracy.
She additionally attended an American faculty in Shanghai and graduated from the all-female Notre Dame High School in Belmont, California, the place she was a boarding scholar.
Princess Abigail was a patron of the Native Hawaiian language, tradition and humanities. She held no formal title however was a dwelling reminder of Hawaii’s monarchy and a logo of Hawaiian nationwide identification that endured after the dominion was overthrown by American businessmen in 1893.
“She was always called princess among Hawaiians because Hawaiians have acknowledged that lineage,” Kimo Alama Keaulana, assistant professor of Hawaiian language and research at Honolulu Community College, mentioned in a 2018 interview. “Hawaiians hold dear to genealogy. And so genealogically speaking, she is of high royal blood.”
James Campbell, the princess’s great-grandfather, was an Irish businessman who made his fortune as a sugar plantation proprietor and one among Hawaii’s largest landowners. He had married Abigail Kuaihelani Maipinepine Bright. Their daughter, Abigail Wahiika‘ahu‘ula Campbell, married Prince David Kawānanakoa, who was named an inheritor to the throne.
Their daughter Lydia Kamaka‘eha Liliu‘okulani Kawānanakoa Morris had Abigail along with her husband William Jeremiah Ellerbrock. After the prince died, his widow adopted their grandchild, the younger Abigail, which strengthened her declare to a princess title. She acknowledged in an interview with Honolulu Magazine in 2021 that had the monarchy survived, her cousin Edward Kawānanakoa could be in line to be the ruler, not her.
“Of course, I would be the power behind the throne, there’s no question about that,” she joked.
Known to household and shut mates as “Kekau,” she obtained extra Campbell cash than anybody else and amassed a belief valued at about $215 million.
She funded numerous causes over time, together with scholarships for Native Hawaiian college students, opposing Honolulu’s rail transit mission, supporting protests in opposition to a large telescope, donating objects owned by King Kalākaua and Queen Kapiʻolani for public show, together with a 14-carat diamond from the king’s pinky ring, and sustaining ʻIolani Palace.
Critics have mentioned as a result of there are different remaining descendants of the royal household who don’t declare any titles, Kawānanakoa was held up because the final Hawaiian princess merely due to her wealth and honorific title.
In honor of the princess, the United States and Hawaiʻi state flags shall be flown at half-staff at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol and at all state workplaces and companies in addition to the Hawaiʻi National Guard.
Services for the princess are within the strategy of being coordinated.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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