Aug 19th, 2008
Iolani Palace - America’s Only Royal Residence
Did you know that there is a royal residence in the US? There is one and only one and that is the Iolani Palace in Honolulu. This palace was built by the last king of Hawaii, King David Kalakaua, in 1882. Iolani Palace was only used for royal residence by King Kalakaua and then by his successor and sister, Queen Liliuokalani.
You can tour Iolani Palace to learn more about the Hawaiian monarchy and the palace’s history. Docent-guided and audio guided tours are offered Tuesday through Saturday. Tour sizes are limited, so reserve your tour in advance. See this link for more about tours and admission fees.
Photo Credit - Hawaii Tourism Japan (HTJ)
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8 Responses to “Iolani Palace - America’s Only Royal Residence”
I’m sure you must have heard by now the chaos they had there over the weekend. I know they had to close it to visitors and I’m not sure if it ever re-opened. I would be so bummed if I was a visitor to the islands.
Hi Kailani - yeah the take over news was pretty interesting. I watched a KGMB segment online and they said the palace is due to re-open tomorrow.
According to zztype.com, (Blaine’s Blog) “When Prince Albert, son of Kamehameha III and Queen Emma, died at only 4 years old. Ke Ali’i Pauahi was offered the throne and declined. Ke Ali’i Ka’iulani was offered the throne and declined. When they died, they marked the end of the Kamehameha Line.”
After that, a new king was elected. (The Kalākaua Dynasty)
It’s too bad the direct bloodline of Kamehameha kind of stopped. I think it would be cool to still have an active royal family like England.
Hi Dave - didn’t the man who just broke into the palace claim he can trace his ancestry to Kamehameha?
This is a great little piece of information on our history. Thanks for the post!
Yeah… It’s not unusual. I believe the guy was some sort of distant relative, not a direct great, great grandson or anything like that. Maybe he’s something like a great, great, great, second cousin by marriage. ;^)
Here’s a comment from Evelyn at http://www.HomespunHonolulu.com that got accidentally deleted:
I think the Governor has squelched the chaos going on at the Palace, at least for now. I have go to mention though, with all of the pictures that I have taken of the Palace, none of them can compare to the one on this post! Great angle!
Hi Evelyn - the Palace goings on are really interesteing, at least from this outsider’s perspective.
That photo is pretty amazing - even with with stormy skies. I have to say mahalo to the HVCB for allowing us to use this photo from their collection.