Russian Legitimist notes with regret the death of friend of the Russian Imperial House, Princess Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa (April 23, 1926 – December 11, 2022). Sometimes known simply as ”Kekau”, princess Abigail was a member of the House of Kawānanakoa, the Royal House of Hawai’i.
In May of 2010, Grand Duchess Maria made a tour of the Western United States and arrived in Honolulu. where she was warmly greeted by His Royal Highness Prince David Kaumuali’i Kawananaoka, who hosted a formal dinner in honor of the Grand Duchess, at which traditional Hawaiian dances and songs were performed.
The next morning, Her Imperial Highness visited the Church of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God and venerated the renowned myrrh-streaming Icon of the Mother of God. The Rector of the Church, Priest Anatole Lyovin, and the owner of the miraculous icon, Nectarios Yanson, told the Grand Duchess about the history of this icon and of the parish, and gave Her Highness a vial containing the myrrh that came from the icon on the eve of her visit.
On May 5, the Grand Duchess visited the War Memorial of Pearl Harbor, and venerated the site where many thousands of soldiers, including members of the Russian emigration, met their death.
That day, a special visit to the Royal Palace was arranged for Her Highness. Later, in an official ceremony in the throne room, Her Royal Highness Princess Kapiolani Kawananaoka, now Marquise Marignoli, presented a bronze bust of the ancestor of Her Highness Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, Russian Emperor Alexander II the Emancipator, to the Palace Museum. This bust was brought to the Hawaiian Islands from St Petersburg by the Royal Ambassador in 1884. The Grand Duchess expressed joy that the bust of her ancestor, as a symbol of dynastic bonds, was returned to the Palace in her presence.
After the ceremony, Princess Abigail Kawananaoka hosted a luncheon in honor of the Grand Duchess, at which other members of the Hawaiian Royal Family were in attendance.
We send our deepest condolences to the Hawai’ian Royal House and the Hawai’ian people on the death of Princess Abigail.
