David Kawananakoa

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Prince Kawānanakoa (David) was the patriarch of the present-day House of Kawānanakoa, heirs to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.
Prince Kawānanakoa (David) was the patriarch of the present-day House of Kawānanakoa, heirs to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

Kawānanakoa or David Kawānanakoa, formally David Laʻamea Kahalepouli Kinoiki Kawānanakoa Piʻikoi (February 19, 1868June 2, 1908), was declared the third heir (after the then princess Liliʻuokalani and princess Kaʻiulani) to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi by King Kalākaua I after the king's brother died and he desired to avoid problematic royal elections in the foreseeable future. David's native name Kawānanakoa was developed personally for him, and his own descendants have taken it as their common name, name of their monarchical House. He was granted the title of Prince and style of His Royal Highness in 1883 by King Kalākaua I. Kawānanakoa was the eldest son of King Kalākaua's first cousin, the late lord David Kahalepouli Piʻikoi (an aliʻi) from Kauaʻi, and his wife the late Princess Victoria Kuhio Kinoike Kekaulike (an aliʻi) of Hilo and royal governor of the island of Kauaʻi, who was sister of Kalākaua's consort, queen Kapiʻolani. These relations were the reason for prince Kawānanakoa's position in the succession order.

Years after the end of the actual kingdom, upon the death of Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani, with whom Kawānanakoa allegedly was betrothed, by force of the aforementioned succession order decreed by King Kalākaua, he became the immediate first heir of the deposed Queen Liliʻuokalani.

He was the nephew of Queen Esther "Julia" Kapiʻolani, married to reigning King David Kalākaua.

Prince David attended the 1900 Democratic National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri and was the first royal to attend a national presidential nominating convention. He was to break a tie about importing a plank into the convention platform regarding free silver.

In 1902, Prince Kawānanakoa married Abigail Wahiʻikaʻahuʻula Campbell who assumed the title of princess.

Prince David acknowledged paternity of a son, Prince Edward Kawānanakoa (who died childless), and a daughter, Princess Lydia (mother of Princess Abigail Kinoike Kekaulike Kawānanakoa). But he declared that the eldest child of his wife (or of the marriage, depending on what is the significance of David's declaration), Abigail Kapiʻolani Kawānanakoa (1903–1961) was not his. David is said to have been forced to adopt her by his wife's mother, Abigail Kuaihelani Maipinepine Campbell-Parker. Currently, Abigail is considered by other authorities to have been legitimate and continue the true line of succession, which now is headed by her grandson, Prince Quentin Kawānanakoa.

David Kawānanakoa predeceased his elder cousin, the deposed queen Liliʻuokalani, and thus never became the official head of the former Royal House of Hawaiʻi. His son, Edward, instead succeeded, in 1917, in the royal claims of Liliʻuokalani.