ABIGAIL KINOIKI KEKAULIKE KAWANANAKOA, sometimes called Kekau, a member of the House of Kawānanakoa, was born on this date. She claimed to be the heir to the royal throne of Hawaiʻi. She was referred to by many as a princess, an honorific commonly bestowed upon the descendants of titled subjects of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi or important figures in Hawaiian history, although she held no official title or role in the Hawaiian state government.
Kawānanakoa was the only child of Lydia Liliuokalani Kawānanakoa, born during her marriage to Irish-American William Jeremiah Ellerbrock. 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.
The Kingdom of Hawaii's last two monarchs, David Kalākaua and Liliʻuokalani
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. She was a granddaughter of Prince David Laʻamea Kahalepouli Kinoiki Kawānanakoa, the hānai adopted son of King Kalākaua. 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. 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 KawānanakoaKalākaua lines, as he was the first born of the oldest sibling, but joked that she would be the "power behind the throne." 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 are the designated heirs of the Kalākaua line.
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.
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.
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 was controversial in the Hawaiian community.
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 helps subsidize the annual cost of Merrie Monarch Festival.
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.
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. 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. Wright, a trustee for the multimillion-dollar Abigail K. K. Kawananakoa Revocable Living Trust, has made accusations that Worth has abused her 92-year-old spouse. Michael Rudy, Worth's attorney, and Michael A. Lilly, Kawānanakoa's attorney, have both denied the allegations. First Hawaiian Bank succeeded Wright as trustee in 2018.
Kawānanakoa died on December 11, 2022, at age 96. Her death was announced in the Hawaiian language at ʻIolani Palace. Governor Josh Green ordered all flags to be flown at half-staff of respect for Kawānanakoa.
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