Hear ye, one and all! The royal procession moves slowly and deliberately into the Supreme Court chamber of Aliiolani Hale, just across the street from Iolani Palace, the imposing home of the Hawaiian monarchs in Honolulu and the only legitimate palace in the United States. The Priory of Hawai’i counts among its members renowned scholars, musicians and artists, as well as important statesmen. So it seems quite logical that the Most Royal Order of King Kamehameha I should have invited members of the Priory of Hawai’i to participate in the celebration of the Kingdom of Hawai’i’s great past. Amazingly, among royal Hawaiian marks of honor there was the eight-pointed cross which is the official insignia of the Knights. The forgotten link between Russia and Hawai’i was reawakened by the arrival of the Knights of St. Years went by, two world wars, political upheavals…. It was given to His Majesty the King of Hawai’i, along with medals, letters of recognition, and a bust of Alexander II. The Iolani Palace in Honolulu is home to some magnificent royal relics, prominent among which is a portrait of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Alexander II (a rare image of the Russian ruler as a very young man). However, the ties of friendship remained-there is now a small Russian colony in Hawai’i. With the passing of the era of sailing vessels, and the sale of Alaska to the United States, the need for a waystation in Hawai’i disappeared. Russian merchants needed a stopover for their ships on the way to Russian Alaska. The ties with Imperial Russia actually began much earlier, with the establishment of Fort Elizabeth in 1815. Created by His Majesty King Kamehameha I, it established diplomatic treaties with some 90 countries, beginning with Great Britain in 18 and the United States in 1849, and reaching as far as Imperial Russia in 1869.
Hawai’i was once an independent monarchy that lasted over 100 years. BUT, we do not know Hawai’i and its fascinating history. During the cruel winter we dreamt of Hawai’i, of its blue, blue skies over the warm blue, blue ocean, its golden sands and deep green forested mountains jutting into the ocean where we could eat sun-kissed fruits and admire larger-than-life trees and flowers, and say aloha to the friendly people we would meet.
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