Abigail Kawananakoa to lie in state at Iolani Palace

The late Abigail Kawananakoa, the Campbell Estate heiress who was considered by many a princess for her royal heritage, will lie in state Jan. 22 at Iolani Palace.

The Kawananakoa family was expected to announce today that the memorial event will take place at the Honolulu institution she worked hard to help restore. The memorial, which will be open to the public, will be held from 2 to 8 p.m. Additional details are expected to be announced later.

Kawananakoa will lay in state at the palace, built in 1882, as did King Kalakaua, Queen Lili‘uokalani and Prince Kuhio Kalaniana‘ole.

The family also was slated to announce today that a private funeral service will be held at Kawananakoa’s burial site at Mauna Ala, the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii in Nuuanu Valley. That occasion will be by invitation only.

Kawananakoa, the great- grandniece of Queen Kapi‘olani, died Dec. 11 at the age of 96.

After her death she was described as a champion of the Hawaiian people and an alii who carried herself with dignity and humility. Gov. Josh Green ordered U.S. and Hawaii state flags flown at half-staff at all state offices and agencies to honor Kawananakoa.

Born Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Ellerbrock in 1926, her parents were Lydia Kamakaeha Liliuokalani Kawananakoa and William Jeremiah Ellerbrock. They divorced after just two years, and she was legally adopted by her maternal grandmother, Abigail Wahiikaahuula Campbell Kawananakoa, who was married to Prince David Laamea Kahalepouli Piikoi Kawananakoa.

Kawananakoa, also known to many as Kekau, inherited her wealth as the great- granddaughter of James Campbell, a 19th- century businessman from Ireland who made his fortune as a sugar plantation owner and one of Hawaii’s largest landowners.

As longtime president of the Friends of Iolani Palace, an organization her mother started, Kawananakoa played a major role in the restoration of the palace built by Kalakaua.

In 1998 Kawananakoa created a stir when she sat on a fragile 115-year-old palace throne during a Life magazine photo shoot. The controversy led to the resignation of Jim Bartels, the palace’s managing director and curator.

Fifteen years later a request by Kawananakoa to build a new tomb at the Mauna Ala royal mausoleum generated backlash from some who questioned whether her lineage qualified her for the honor.

The state Board of Land and Natural Resources eventually granted her the right to be buried there, alongside members of the Kameha­meha and Kalakaua dynasties and their retainers.

In 2001 Kawananakoa created the Abigail KK Kawananakoa Foundation, a charity to administer about $100 million for Native Hawaiian causes after her death. But the charity’s fate came under question after Kawananakoa suffered a stroke in June 2017 and her soon-to-be spouse and longtime attorney battled in court over control of the fortune; the litigation continues.