Kamehameha V – Established the Royal Order of Kamehameha I
Lot Kapuāiwa Kalanikupuapaikalaninui Kalanimakua Aliʻiōlani was born on December 11, 1830 to High Chiefess Kahoʻanokū Kīnaʻu, a daughter of Kamehameha, and High Chief Mataio Kekūanaoʻa, a descendent of the Chiefs of Oahu. Prince Lot was the last direct descendant of Kamehameha to rule the Hawaiian kingdom.

Following the death of his brother Kamehameha IV in 1863, Prince Lot was proclaimed King of Hawaiʻi (Kamehameha V) just shy of his 33rd birthday. Kamehameha V believed that the example of his grandfather, Kamehameha, gave him the mana and right to lead the Hawaiian people personally, and favored a stronger monarchy. When Kamehameha V took the throne he did not bother with a public inauguration and refused to take an oath to uphold the 1852 constitution which he regarded as not in the best interest of his people. In May of 1864 he called for a constitutional convention of elected delegates for the purpose of creating a new constitution. When the delegates became deadlocked after weeks of discussion, Kamehameha V simply announced that the Constitution of 1852 was abrogated and that he would provide the Kingdom with a new constitution. By this coup Kamehameha V broke the back of the Legislature’s power and restored to the Crown the authority Kamehameha III had relinquished with the Constitution of 1852.

Committed to perpetuate the Kingdom as an independent monarchy, Kamehameha V worked to make the Kingdom less vulnerable aboard by strengthening its economy and dignity at home. Kamehameha V respected the ancient culture of his kupuna and amakua (ancestors) and possessed a great confidence in who he was as the leader of the Hawaiian people. Kamehameha V encouraged the revival of the old Hawaiian arts and sciences and established the Royal Order of Kamehameha I in honor of his grandfather, Kamehameha, to support the Hawaiian Kingdom, and to uplift the Hawaiian people. Beloved by the Hawaiian people and citizens of the Kingdom, Kamehameha V died a bachelor on December 11, 1872 at the age of forty-two.

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