Kamehameha Royal Family

Five members of Hawai‘i’s royal family appear in this portrait: King Kamehameha III, his consort Queen Kalama, and the niece and nephews who were the king’s chosen successors. Kamehameha III married Kalama Kapakuhaili in 1837. After their two children died in infancy, the royal couple adopted the king’s nephew Alexander Liholiho, who reigned as Kamehameha IV following his uncle’s death in 1854. When Kamehameha IV died in 1863 without naming an heir, the throne passed to his sister, Princess Victoria. She immediately relinquished the position to her elder brother Lot Kapuaiwa, who, as Kamehameha V, became the last member of the Kamehameha dynasty to rule Hawai‘i.