Meet Abigail Kawananakoa, Hawaii's intensely private 'last princess' who's locked in a battle for control over her $215 million fortune
This is Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananakoa. She is 91 years old and goes by "Kekau" (pronounced kay-kow). She tends to be an extremely private person.
Kawananakoa is Hawaii's last princess. If Hawaii were still its own nation with its own monarchy, she would likely assume the throne. She descends from James Campbell, an Irish businessman who came to Hawaii in the mid-1800s and made a fortune as a partner in a Maui sugar plantation.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Her grandfather was Prince David Kawananakoa, who was named an heir to the Hawaiian throne.
Source: Associated Press
Though Kawananakoa has no official title and wields no power in Hawaii, many native Hawaiians see her as a symbol of a time when Hawaii was its own nation. The US annexed Hawaii in 1898, having already ended the reign of Queen Lili’uokalani, Kawananakoa's great-grand aunt, in 1893.
Source: Associated Press, Forbes
Kawananakoa is worth about $215 million. She has dedicated parts of her fortune to various causes, including keeping Iolani Palace — America's only royal residence which is now a museum — intact.
Source: Associated Press
She's also helped fund protests against building a telescope on a sacred Hawaiian mountain and resistance to a Honolulu rail project.
Source: Associated Press, Hawaii News Now
In October 2017, Kawananakoa married her longtime partner, Veronica Gail Worth, who was 63 years old.
Source: Hawaii News Now
The couple has been involved in an ongoing legal dispute. Kawananakoa's former attorney alleged that Worth had physically abused Kawananakoa, who had a stroke in August 2017. The former attorney also said Worth was financially exploiting Kawananakoa because Kawananakoa was mentally unfit to manage her own finances.
Source: Hawaii News Now
Kawananakoa, who said she was able to manage her own money, fired the attorney. The state Attorney General's office became involved in the battle over Kawananakoa's money because of allegations that charitable assets earmarked for native Hawaiians are being squandered. In September, a judge appointed someone to investigate the allegations — a court hearing is scheduled for February.
Source: Hawaii News Now
Kawananakoa has supported the preservation of native Hawaiian culture, donating items like King Kalakaua's roughly 14-carat diamond pinky ring to the Iolani Palace in Honolulu. Not many people know there's an American princess, making Kawananakoa's life story an incredible piece of US history.
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