Princess Profile - Ka’iulani, the Island Princess
Princess Ka’iulani of Hawaii’s story is both inspiring and tragic. She was born in 1875, the daughter of mixed parentage, having a Scottish father and Hawaiian mother. She was beautiful, intelligent and talented and had a great sympathy for her people.
Ka’iulani lived a peaceful childhood among the royalty of Hawai’i and was even a friend of the Scottish author, Robert Louis Stevenson. At the age of 13 she was sent to England to receive her education for the next four years. The Princess mastered many languages and subjects and expressed a desire to be a painter, at which she showed quite some talent. It was while she was in England that she received the news that her Kingdom, to which she was Crown Princess, had been annexed by the United States and the monarchy deposed.
A strong willed, determined young lady she travelled to America to stand up for the rights of her people against the government. Despite her addresses to the press and congress her plight was ignored and she was never to assume her birthright as Queen of Hawai’i. Her efforts did have the effect, however, of impressing upon the people of the US that the Hawaiians were a civilised, cultured people and far from the barbarians they had been portrayed as. She returned to England where the deaths of several of her close friends greatly added to her tragedy and her health began to deteriorate.
Hoping that a change in climate would help her recover, the Princess returned to Hawai’i in 1897. Unfortunately after many years in Europe she had trouble re-acclimatising to the tropical Hawaiian temperatures and sadly passed away on March 6th, 1899. She was only 23.
I feel a certain small kinship to Princess Ka’iulani, being half Scottish myself. Her story is so tragic, and yet she is an ideal example of a Princess. Intelligent, elegant, noble and with a strong sense of duty to her people. She loved Chinese jasmine and kept many pet Peacocks of whom she was very fond. It is said her peacocks screamed when she died. Whenever I see a peacock I am reminded of her strength and beauty.
Welcome to the Princess Portal, a blog about finding your inner princess and living every day with beauty, grace and a sense of childlike wonder. This is both my diary and a way of sharing my writings on the Princess lifestyle. Please feel free to comment on anything that interests you! I'd love to hear from you ♥
January 23rd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
She was very beautiful.
It’s a shame, I think that one of the factors to her being ignored was her skin color. Bad times, back in those days.
January 23rd, 2008 at 4:54 pm
She seems lovely, and it is sad that she was defeated by this world. That is what seemed to happen, to me. There were just so many things against her, and one person alone cannot save the world.
She did so well, though, and I was very happy to learn about her. Thank you for sharing this.
January 24th, 2008 at 1:49 am
Thank you for posting this! I’ve never heard of Princess Ka’iulani, even though I’ve lived in the United States my whole life. ^^; But then we are usually taught that Hawaii ‘joined’ the US rather than was annexed.
Ka’iulani seems like a lovely person who unfortunately shared the sad fate of America’s native peoples. Good for her for standing up for her beliefs, I’m just sorry it didn’t help her. :(
January 24th, 2008 at 6:37 am
Her peacocks screamed? How hauntingly beautiful. Princess Ka’iulani inspires me a great deal. I’m part Scottish as well1
January 24th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I love Princess Ka’iulani. I learned about her while I lived in Hawaii she has always been a favorite of mine.