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Royal Family of Hawaii Official Website
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Ahahui ʻo Kaʻōhelelani
HRH Princess Theresa Owana Kaʻōhelelani
Head of the Royal House from 1928-1944
Ahahui ʻo Kaʻōhelelani
The members of the Ahahui ʻo Kaʻōhelelani in 1917
During the procession of the royal funeral of Her Majesty Queen Liliʻuokalani
High Chiefess Princess Theresa Owana Kaʻōhelelani Laʻanui was the daughter of High Chief Gideon Kaʻilipalaki Laʻanui (grand nephew of Kamehameha I) and Chiefess Kamaikaopa, grandaughter of Keohokālole (mother of King Kalakaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani). Princess Theresa grew up during the time when H.M. King Kamehameha V was on the throne, she was adopted by her father's sister, the High Chiefess, Princess Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau Laʻanui after her parents had passed when she was very young. Princess Elizabeth was a very important figure in the royal courts of King Kamehameha III, IV and V, she was officially eligible to rule and made preemptive to the throne along with the Kamehamehas, Lunalilo, Kalākaua and then became the Head of the Royal House after the passing
of H.M. Queen Liliʻuokalani in 1917.
Princess Theresa became the head of the royal house after the passing of Princess Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau Laʻanui in 1928, possessing "fons honorum", continuing her royal prerogatives, her dynastic primogenitor rights as the legitimate Sovereign under an illegal occupation.
Ahahui ʻo Kaʻōhelelani, is an order of merit made strictly for the royal house family members and high officers who works for the crown. It bears the name and personal crest of
H.R.H. Princess Theresa Owana Kaʻōhelelani Laʻanui.
The order was first created after the illegal overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani by and for Princess Theresa Owana Kaʻōhelelani Laʻanui. The order led the processions for various events, such as the first memorial birthday parade for His Majesty King Kalakaua and the royal funeral of Her Majesty Queen Lili'uokalani. It was inherited and re-established by her great grand daughter and current Head of the Royal House,
Princess Owana Kaʻōhelelani Salazar.
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When Princess Theresa became of age, she married first Alexander Cartwright III, the son of the founder of the New York Knickerbocker Baseball Club and known as the "Father of Baseball". He was also the estate trustee for Queen Emma, advisor for King Kalākaua and the Fire Chief in Honolulu
from 1850 to 1863.
Princess Theresaʻs second husband, was the Honorable Robert Kalanihiapo Wilcox, they owned and operated two Hawaiian newspapers, the Liberal and the Home Rula Repubalika, which were written in the Hawaiian and English language. Their Newspaper was an opposition to the oligarchy's Hawaiian Gazette newspaper which was ran by the conspirators who overthrew Queen Liliʻuokalani and became a trustee of her estate. The conspirator was William Owen Smith, an enemy
who would later frame Princess Theresa for forging the queen's will.
The oligarchy newspaper, "Hawaiian Gazette" was a voice of their occupied government. But Princess Theresa and her husband's newspaper promoted the voting rights for Hawaiians to be restored and they became a thorn in the side of the oligarchs. In addition to their publication, Princess Theresa and her aunt, Princess Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau had submitted a claim, for the illegal ceded crown lands which was held in control under the new regime and with her husband Robert Wilcox's counter revolution against them to restore the queen, they were definitely considered a threat to the oligarchs. Victory came in the year 1900 when Princess Theresa's husband Robert Wilcox was supported by many Hawaiians and was honored as a hero, so they voted for him to be the first U.S Territory of Hawai`i Delegate to Congress.
Princess Theresa was well respected among authority figures of Hawaii & the United States. She was the very First Lady of Hawaii to enter the White House as the wife of Hawaii's first Delegate to Congress. One of her many stories of living in Washington were often told of how she had left a party at the White House with young Theodore Roosevelt to get something to eat, because the snacks were
to slim for her Hawaiian appetite.
Princess Theresa was called upon by many, such as Queen Dowager Margherita of Savoy, Prince Ferdinando, Duke of Genoa and the Chinese Consul, Chang Tso Fan during a reception on New Years Day. She was a master in coordinating luaus for events and political parties attended by Her Majesty Queen Liliʻuokalani, she was known for her large luaus at her Kaimuki home which was called "Luauville" because of it. She started her own Paʻu riding club and a hula entertainment business.
In her elder years, the Royal Hawaiian Band would perform in front of her house on her birthday every year. The Princess wrote a song "Uluhua Wale Au" which was published in the King's Song Book. A beautiful waltz about the fragrance of Ka'ala, the highest mountain peak on O'ahu.
"ULUHUA WALE AU"
Onaona e ka uka o Ka`ala
Kuahiwi `au i ke kai
Ho`omâhie mai ana i ka nahele
I ka nani o Kûwaipô
Uluhua uluhua wale au
Uluhua i ka wai a ka naulu
Ia wai nihi a`e i na pali
Ka lewa mauka o Mikilua
`Elua no pu`u i `oi a`e
A Hâlona e hi`ipoi nei
O ka uhi wai no me ka lalana
`Ekolu i ke onaona Iâpana
Uluhua uluhua wale au
Uluhua i ka wai a ka naulu
Ia wai nihi a`e i na pali
Ka lewa mauka o Mikilua
The fragrance from Ka`ala
Mountain washed by the sea
Permeates the woodland
And beautiful Kuwaipo
I am teased and tantalized
Vexed by the ever-present showers
That water that sweeps silently across the cliffs
And floats past the uplands of Mikilua
Two hearts are best
At cherished Halona
The heavy fog and the warming heat
Joined by the fragrance of the
night-blooming Cestrum
I am teased and tantalized
Vexed by the ever-present showers
That water that sweeps silently across the cliffs
And floats past the uplands of Mikilua
Honorable Robert Kalanihiapo Wilcox
Princess Theresa was married 4 times, although she only had children from her first and second marriages, her children from her first husband, Alexander Cartwright III, they had two daughters:
Princess Daisy Napulahaokalani & Princess Eva Kuwailanimamao
Her children from her second husband, the Honorable Robert Kalanihiapo Wilcox, they had one son and two daughters:
Prince Robert Keoua Kalanikupuapaikalaninui &
Princess Virginia Kahoa Kaʻahumanu Kaʻihikapumahana
another daughter, Princess Elizabeth Kaʻakaualaninui
unfortunately, lived for only a few months.
Princess Theresa Owana passed away on January 5, 1944. Her son, Prince Robert Keoua Kalanikupuapaʻikalaninui would have succeeded her as the head of the royal house, unfortunately he died in 1934 at young at the age of 41. Prince Robert's first child, Princess Helena Kalokuokamaile became the head of the royal house and continued the royal house prerogatives. After the passing of Princess Helena in 1988, her daughter, Princess Owana Kaʻohelelani Laʻanui Salazar succeeded her as head of the royal house, inheriting the "fons honorum" and continuing the royal house prerogatives.