Choosing An Heir To The Hawaiian Throne
His sister and only named Heir Apparent to the throne, Crown Princess Victoria Kamāmalu had died childless in 1866 and through the remainder of his reign, Kamehameha V did not name a successor. He died on December 11, 1872 while the preparations for his birthday celebration were underway. As Lot lay bedstricken, he answered those that came to visit him: "The Good Lord cannot take me today, today is my birthday". He was buried in the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii known as Mauna ʻAla.
He was the last ruling monarch of the House of Kamehameha. According to his Constitution of 1864, Article 24: "The Crown is hereby permanently confirmed to His Majesty Kamehameha V, and to the Heirs of His Body Lawfully Begotten, and to their Lawful Descendents in a Direct Line..." The legislature chose to use a later part of that same article to select a new king. The legislature declared an election for the office, won by Kamehameha V's cousin William Charles Lunalilo.
Read more about this topic: Kamehameha V
Famous quotes containing the words choosing, heir and/or throne:
“When choosing between two evils, I always like to pick the one I never tried before.”
—Mae West (1892–1980)
“‘Tis the curse of service,
Preferment goes by letter and affection,
And not by old gradation, where each second
Stood heir to th’ first.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“I am apt to think, if we knew what it was to be an angel for one hour, we should return to this world, though it were to sit on the brightest throne in it, with vastly more loathing and reluctance than we would now descend into a loathsome dungeon or sepulchre.”
—George Berkeley (1685–1753)