The casket bearing the 96-year-old heiress long considered the last Hawaiian princess went on public display on Sunday in the downtown Honolulu palace that benefited from her wealth.
Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananakoa’s casket, handcrafted from a 165-year-old koa tree that fell during a 2021 storm on the Big Island, arrived at Iolani Palace in a hearse.
It was greeted by a traditional Hawaiian wailing and a chanting of her lineage before being carried by members of a law enforcement honor guard up the palace’s front stairs and into the throne room.
Photo: Reuters
Family spokesperson Caroline Witherspoon called the procession “extremely emotional,” saying: “The wailing — it was just beautiful. It just caused a visceral reaction for me. I started to cry.”
The palace is the US’ only royal residence, where the Hawaiian monarchy dwelled, but which now serves mostly as a museum.
Kawananakoa was the palace’s largest single benefactor, her publicists said, and even paid its electricity bills for many years.
Members of the public were allowed to line up to view her casket and were not required to wear the shoe coverings that palace visitors normally have to wear as a preservation precaution. A carpet for mourners to walk on was temporarily installed for the viewing.
The viewing was scheduled to end at 8pm.
Kawananakoa died at her home in Nuuanu near downtown Honolulu on Dec. 11.
She passed away “peacefully” with her wife, Veronica Gail Kawananakoa, 70, at her side, a news release said.
“Abigail will be remembered for her love of Hawaii and its people and I will miss her with all of my heart,” her wife said.
Kawananakoa held no formal title, but was considered a princess because her lineage included the royal family that once ruled the Hawaiian islands. She was a reminder of Hawaii’s monarchy and a symbol of its national identity that endured after the kingdom was overthrown by US businessmen in 1893.
In 1895, an unsuccessful attempt by Hawaiian royalists to restore Queen Liliuokalani to power resulted in her arrest. She was put on trial before a military tribunal in her own throne room.
After she was convicted, she was imprisoned in an upstairs bedroom of the palace for nearly eight months.
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