PolarBear
Major
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2007
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I am currently researching Princess Victoria Kawēkiu Kaʻiulani Lunalilo Kalaninuiahilapalapa Cleghorn (Princess Ka'iulani for short). She was next in line to be the future Queen of Hawaii. Her father was a Scottish businessman and the Royal Governor of Oahu,Alexander Cleghorn, and her mother, Princess Miriam Likelike, was the sister of the current Queen Liliʻuokalani. Ka'iulani was a celebrity known worldwide during the 1890s. She actively protested the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in January 1893 by American businessmen in favor of American annexation of the islands and US Marines and Sailors from the USS Boston. She traveled to America in February 1893 and spoke about the coup d'etat to audiences in New York and Boston. She even went to Washington and met with President Grover Cleveland who was sympathetic to her cause but about to leave the presidency and be replaced by Annexationist William McKinley. The Princess became an important spokesperson for Hawaiian resistance to the American takeover and is still a heroine to native Hawaiians.
Among the photographs (and there are many) of her the one of most interest to me is the one below. The most intriguing aspect was the hat she is wearing. The letters IMMORTALITE are clearly visible. Further research showed that it was a Royal Navy sennet hat from the HMS Immortalite. During an 1895 trip to London she was invited aboard HMS Immortalite an Orlando-class armored cruiser by family friend Sir William Wiseman (a former captain of the ship) and presented with the hat. I hope to have a figure made based on this photograph and add some sailors with sennet hats of course and an officer to make a small diorama.
Among the photographs (and there are many) of her the one of most interest to me is the one below. The most intriguing aspect was the hat she is wearing. The letters IMMORTALITE are clearly visible. Further research showed that it was a Royal Navy sennet hat from the HMS Immortalite. During an 1895 trip to London she was invited aboard HMS Immortalite an Orlando-class armored cruiser by family friend Sir William Wiseman (a former captain of the ship) and presented with the hat. I hope to have a figure made based on this photograph and add some sailors with sennet hats of course and an officer to make a small diorama.
