Multimillionaire heiress Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananakoa has a $215million fortune that her lawyer was trying to wrestle control
One of Hawaii’s richest residents is now struggling to pay her own electric bill amid a real-life power struggle over the 91-year-old’s wealth after she suffered a stroke.
Multimillionaire heiress Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananakoa, considered by many to be Hawaii’s last princess, is in a court battle with her former lawyer James Wright who became a trustee over her fortune.
He argues a stroke last summer left the heiress impaired and no longer in a position to decide on important financial matters.
Kawananakoa claims she’s fine, but struggling to pay her palace’s electricity bills, and after firing Wright has married her 64-year-old lesbian girlfriend of 20 years, who now often speaks on her partner’s behalf.
Kawananakoa is considered a princess because she is a descendant of Prince David Kawananakoa, who was an heir to the throne of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
The heiress, pictures at the age of 55 in 1982 stands in the hallway of her palace. 36 years on and she is now struggling to pay the electricity bill for the lavish building
Kawananakoa suffered a stroke in June and a state probate judge turned over control of her $215million trust to her longtime lawyer James Wright
The last monarch of Hawaii, Queen Lili’uokalani, whose reign was cut short in 1898 when the United States annexed the islands, was Kawananakoa’s great-aunt.
The nonagenarian is also the great-granddaughter of James Campbell, an Irish multimillionaire sugar plantation owner and one of Hawaii’s largest landowners who died in 1900, leaving behind a $3million estate.
But the intensely private Native Hawaiian, whose $215million fortune includes race horses and real estate, is no longer in a position to fund her pet charities, including the palace and various Native Hawaiian causes.
James Wright’s own lawyer, Frank Kanemitsu, wrote in court documents that since the stroke she is ‘unable to meet essential requirements of physical health, safety, self-care or financial matters,’ even with assistance.
Furor erupted in the 1990s after Native Hawaiian heiress, sat on one of the thrones for a Life magazine photo shoot and damaged some of its fragile threads
Although repairs were made, and the throne was returned to the throne room, the uproar led to her ouster as president of Friends of Iolani Palace, a position she held for more than 25 years
David Kawananakoa, Abigail Kawananakoa’s grandfather, left, who was an heir to the throne of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and right grandma Abigail Wahiʻikaʻahuʻula Campbell Kawānanakoa
Lydia Liliuokalani Kawananakoa, Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananakoa’s mother
‘Ms Kawananakoa and her legacy need the protection of the court,’ Wright said. ‘I have represented her for nearly 20 years, and spoke to her three hours before the stroke. She is not the same person.’
Wright’s court filings also raise allegations that Veronica Gail Worth, Kawananakoa’s 64-year-old wife, physically abused her.
Neither Kawananakoa nor Worth responded to requests for comment.
Kawananakoa’s partner, Worth, insists that the heiress is still capable of making financial decisions.
Lawyers for the heiress dispute she had a stroke, saying in court papers it was a transient ischemic attack, which has similar symptoms but caused no permanent damage.
Kawananakoa’s attorney said in court papers the abuse claims are false and that Kawananakoa fell and ‘struck furniture, which caused the bruising, which is not uncommon at someone her age’.
A judge in September appointed a special master to independently investigate the heiress’s mental capacity and the abuse allegations.
Kawananakoa largely avoids airing her personal life, and some who know her say even her October 1 wedding at the home of a retired state Supreme Court justice came as a surprise.
Native Hawaiian multimillionaire heiress Abigail Kawananakoa, 91 (left),married her partner of 21 years, Veronica Gail Worth, 64 (pictured at the ceremony) in October last year
Former Hawaii Gov. George Ariyoshi, left, and and Princess Kawananakoa, center and Veronica Gail Worth, right, her married partner of 20 years
Worth possesses Kawananakoa’s health care power of attorney and receives $700,000 a year from her trust.
Worth’s attorney, Michael Rudy said his client’s only aim is to put Kawananakoa back in charge of her finances.
But Wright said he fears there’s a greater money grab in play that could seriously affect Kawananakoa’s plan to set up a charity on behalf of the native Hawaiian people.
Since the court battle began Iolani Palace executive director Kippen de Alba Chu said the electricity payments have stopped. Kawananakoa lives at the palace and parts of it are also open to the public for tours.
Officials who run the palace completed in 1882 have relied on a backup plan to pay the light bill and stay open.
Also disrupted were funds earmarked for a native Hawaiian nursing student’s scholarship and materials to repair a damaged crypt at the Royal Mausoleum, where members of Hawaiian royalty are buried.
Abigail Kawananakoa, center, meets the King of Tonga, right, as Executive Director Kippen de Alba Chu, left, looks on outside the palace in Honolulu. Many Native Hawaiians consider Kawananakoa to be the last Hawaiian princess, a tenuous link to when Hawaii was ruled by a royal family
A power struggle is now taking place between the princesses’s lawyers and those of her partner, Veronica Worth, who is trying to wrestle control of the family fortune
Tourists still flock to the downtown Honolulu palace for a glimpse of the way Hawaii’s royal family lived, marveling at its gilded furniture, lavish throne room and grand staircase made from prized koa wood.
But few know Iolani Palace – America’s only royal residence – has relied in part on the generosity of a descendant of that family while the relic of the monarchy’s rule now serves as a museum.
Over the years, Kawananakoa has used her money to fund protesters fighting a giant telescope on a mountain some Native Hawaiians consider sacred; to challenge a contentious Honolulu rail project; and to support the Merrie Monarch Festival, a prestigious hula competition.
A crest on gates at the Iolani Palace, Honolulu
She also has donated items owned by King Kalakaua and Queen Kapiolani for public display, including Kalakaua’s nearly 14-carat diamond pinky ring.
Although Kawananakoa has no official title or real power in the state, it doesn’t matter to many native Hawaiians who see her as a link to when Hawaii was its own nation – before American businessmen, backed by U.S. Marines, overthrew the Hawaiian kingdom 125 years ago.
‘She was always called princess among Hawaiians because Hawaiians have acknowledged that lineage,’ said Kimo Alama Keaulana, assistant professor of Hawaiian language and studies at Honolulu Community College. ‘Hawaiians hold dear to genealogy. And so genealogically speaking, she is of high royal blood.’
Some note that Prince David has other living descendants and say the heiress is held up as the last tie to the monarchy simply because of her wealth, but Kawananakoa’s supporters say she is the closest connection to the throne because, although they were already related, the prince’s widow formally adopted her as a daughter.
Last princess or not, Kawananakoa’s inheritance wields tangible power – and some worry about it falling into the wrong hands.
Kawananakoa has occasionally drawn attention over the years, including in 1993, when one of her horses won $1 million in New Mexico’s All American Futurity.
Every day, tourists flock to a downtown Honolulu palace for a glimpse of the way Hawaii’s royal family lived, marveling at its gilded furniture, lavish throne room and grand staircase made from prized koa wood
A palace worker wears gloves to show a silver purse donated to the palace by Kawananakoa
Five years later, furor erupted after Kawananakoa sat on a palace throne for a Life magazine photo shoot. She damaged some of its fragile threads, but repairs were made and the throne was returned to the palace throne room. Still, the uproar led to Kawananakoa’s ouster as president of Friends of Iolani Palace, a position she held for more than 25 years.
Some Hawaiians, such as well-known activist Walter Ritte, aren’t interested in revering her genealogy or wealth. Hawaiians, especially those who live in poverty, can’t relate to her, Ritte said.
‘She has given some money here and there,’ he said. ‘She could have done a lot more for Hawaiians.’
The court battle focusing on Kawananakoa’s age and health has others reflecting on her as a final living reminder of Hawaii’s monarchy and as a symbol of a proud Hawaiian national identity that has endured.
‘It is fair to say that Abigail Kawananakoa is the last of our alii,’ said Keaulana, using the Hawaiian word for royalty. ‘She epitomizes what Hawaiian royalty is – in all its dignity and intelligence and art.’
Palace officials will be watching the case. A hearing is tentatively scheduled for February 8.
The Royal Hawaiian coat of arms hangs in the throne room at Iolani Palae
A 14-carat diamond that Hawaiian King Kalakaua wore as a pinky ring is displayed at Iolani Palace in Honolulu. After the king died, the diamond was passed down through the royal family, eventually to Abigail Kawananakoa, who donated it to Iolani Palace