page_title: Kamehameha IV
section_title: Reign
hierarchical_section_title: Kamehameha IV / Reign
caption_attribution_description: English: Queen Emma and Kamehameha IV
context_page_description: Kamehameha IV February 9, 1834 – November 30, 1863, reigned as the fourth monarch of Hawaii under the title Ke Aliʻi o ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻAina of the Kingdom of Hawaii from January 11, 1855 to November 30, 1863.
context_section_description: Kamehameha III died on March 18, 1854. On January 11, 1855 Alexander took the oath as King Kamehameha IV, succeeding his uncle when he was only 20 years old. His first act as king was to halt the negotiations his father had begun regarding Hawaii's annexation by the United States.
  His cabinet ministers were: Wyllie, as minister of foreign affairs, Keoni Ana (John Young II) served as minister of the interior, Elisha Hunt Allen as minister of finance, and Richard Armstrong as minister of education. William Little Lee served as chief justice, until he was sent on a diplomatic mission and then died in 1857. Allen became chief justice, and David L. Gregg became minister of finance. After Keoni Ana died, his brother Prince Lot Kapuāiwa was minister of the interior.
  Only a year after assuming the throne, Alexander took the hand of Emma Rooke, whom he had met in childhood at the Chiefs' Children's School, as his queen. Queen Emma was the granddaughter of John Young, Kamehameha the Great's British royal advisor and companion. She also was Kamehameha's great-grandniece. On the day of their wedding, he forgot their wedding ring. Chief Justice Elisha Hunt Allen quickly slipped his own gold ring to the king and the ceremony continued. The marriage was apparently a happy one, as the king and queen shared interests including opera, literature and theatre.
  After marrying in 1856, the royal couple had their only child on May 20, 1858, named Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa a Kamehameha. Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was Prince Albert's godmother (by proxy) at his christening in Honolulu. Alexander Liholiho thought he was responsible for the death of Prince Albert because he gave him a cold shower to "cool him off" when Albert wanted something he could not have. His ailing health worsened.
  At the age of four, the young prince died on August 27, 1862. The cause of the prince's death is unknown: at the time, it was believed to be "brain fever" or meningitis. Later speculation has included appendicitis.
  On September 11, 1859 the king shot Henry A. Neilson, his secretary and one of his closest friends, who died two years later. Alexander had heard a rumour that Neilson was having an affair with Queen Emma, and after drinking heavily shot his friend in the chest. Following the shooting, the king apologised to Neilson and provided him with the use of his Waikiki home for the rest of his life. He also considered abdicating his throne, before being convinced not to by Wyllie, his minister of foreign affairs.
  Wyllie sponsored a fancy dress ball in 1860. Even the Catholic bishop came, dressed as a bishop. Kamehameha IV's father Kekūanāoʻa came in Scottish highland dress, music was provided by German musicians, and the food by a French chef. Emma came as the earth goddess Cybele. The conservative American missionaries did not approve, especially of the dancing.
  In August 1861 he issued a declaration of neutrality in the American Civil War.
caption: Emma, a British descendant and great grand niece of Hawaiʻi's first king, was Kamehameha IV's Queen Consort.
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.6.11", "Image DateTime": "2011:08:25 16:50:51", "Image ExifOffset": "94", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "C5D99AA44839451198834D0A281D13BE"}