page_title: Kamehameha II
section_title: Fatal visit to Great Britain
hierarchical_section_title: Kamehameha II / Fatal visit to Great Britain
caption_attribution_description: English: Rhio Rhio, King of the Sandwich Islands, engraved for the Lady's Magazine, intaglio print, hand-colored with watercolor, by an unknown artist, 1824. King Kamehameha II of the Kingdom of Hawaii (c. 1797–July 14, 1824) was born with the name Liholiho. He came to the throne in 1819, but true power was held by Ka'ahumanu, the former Queen. He sailed to London England in 1823, where he died of measles before his scheduled audience with George IV. His body was sent back on the HMS Blonde under Lord Byron. This sketch was made just before he died in London.
context_page_description: Kamehameha II was the second king of the Kingdom of Hawaii. His birth name was Liholiho and full name was Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu ʻIolani. It was lengthened to Kalani Kaleiʻaimoku o Kaiwikapu o Laʻamea i Kauikawekiu Ahilapalapa Kealiʻi Kauinamoku o Kahekili Kalaninui i Mamao ʻIolani i Ka Liholiho when he took the throne.
context_section_description: Another of his voyages would prove fatal. On April 16, 1822 English missionary William Ellis arrived with a schooner Prince Regent of six guns to add to his growing collection of ships. It was a gift from George IV the King of Great Britain, and Kamehameha II wrote to thank him, requesting closer diplomatic ties. He wanted to travel to London, but all his advisors including Keōpūolani and Kaʻahumanu were opposed to the idea. After his mother Keōpūolani's death on September 16, 1823, he made up his mind to go.
  In November 1823 Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu commissioned the British whaling ship L'Aigle (French for "the Eagle") under Captain Valentine Starbuck to carry them to London. Going along were High Chief Boki and wife High Chiefess Kuini Liliha, and other chiefs and retainers including Manuia, Naihekukui, James Young Kānehoa, Kekūanāoʻa, Kauluhaimalama, Naʻaiweuweu, and Naukane who had already been to America (where he picked up the name John Coxe) and then England.
  Since Ellis wanted to travel back to England anyway, he offered to be translator and guide, but Starbuck refused. Somehow Rives talked his way on board instead as translator.
  In February 1824 they arrived at Rio de Janeiro in the newly independent Empire of Brazil where they met Emperor Pedro I. The Emperor gave Kamehameha II a ceremonial diamond-encrusted sword with a gold sheath, and in return was presented with a native Hawaiian feather cloak made from rare tropical bird feathers which in 2018 was lost in the fire that destroyed National Museum of Brazil. Queen Kamāmalu receives a diamond ring; in return, she offers a yellow feather necklace.
  They arrived on May 17, 1824 in Portsmouth, and the next day moved into the Caledonian Hotel in London. Foreign Secretary George Canning appointed Frederick Gerald Byng (1784–1871) to supervise their visit. Byng was a Gentleman Usher, fifth son of John Byng, 5th Viscount Torrington and friend of Beau Brummell, known more for his gaudy fashions than diplomacy. Their arrival was met by the local press with a mixture of curiosity and derision. They were not sure what to call the king, spelling his "Liholiho" name various ways such as "Rheo Rhio". Some made puns on the fact that Byng's nickname was "Poodle" and in Hawaiian ʻīlio ʻīlio would mean "dog of dogs" and that the British name of the kingdom was "Sandwich Islands". Byng made sure they would have appropriate attire for all their public appearances.
  On May 28 a reception with 200 guests including several Dukes was held in their honor. They toured London, visiting Westminster Abbey, but he refused to enter because he did not want to desecrate their burial place.  In the words of Bill Mai'oho, the curator of the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii, "Liholiho, King Kamehameha II, refused to step in there, because he wasn't blood-connected. These were the kings, and he felt he had no right, to walk around their caskets. He didn't even step foot  [sic] in there, he didn't want to desecrate their burial places with his presence or his feet stepping in that area."  They attended opera and ballet at Royal Opera House in Covent Garden on May 31, and the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane on June 4 in the Royal Box.
  He and Kamāmalu were an unusual sight to the British people who had seen few Native Hawaiians, moreover, Kamāmalu was over six-feet tall. Several members of the court had portraits painted by the Hayter family.
  King George IV finally scheduled a meeting for June 21, but it had to be delayed as Kamāmalu became ill. The Hawaiian court had caught measles, to which they had no immunity. They probably contracted the disease on their June 5 visit to the Royal Military Asylum (now the Duke of York's Royal Military School).  Kamāmalu died on July 8, 1824. The grief-stricken Kamehameha II died six days later on July 14, 1824.
  Vast crowds lined up when he was laid in state at the Caledonian Hotel on July 17.
  On July 18 the bodies were stored in the crypt of St Martin-in-the-Fields church where they awaited transportation back home. Boki took over lead of the delegation and finally d
caption: Sketch in London just before his death
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "1200", "Image YResolution": "1200", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2021:03:23 04:35:07", "Image ExifOffset": "164", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "302", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5649", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4182", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "5076"}