Only Kalakaua and dowager Queen Emma vied for the throne after Lunalilo's death - Kalakaua won. He was an intelligent and noble ruler. His pinache and style earned him the reputation as Hawaii's "Merry Monarch". He built 'Iolani Palace - the only royal palace in America.

He was grandly received by President Ulysis S. Grant and a joint session of the United States Congress, as the first reigning monarch ever to visit the United States. He was also the world's first monarch to circumnavigate the globe.

Kalakaua's support of his people, antagonized the missionary-descended power wielded in his Kingdom. Armed insurrection by a political group called the Hawaiian League, commanded the services of a few hundred white soldiers called the Honlulu Rifles. They forced Kalakaua to accept a new 'Bayonet Constitution' that seriously curtailed the King's powers - the revolutionary Hawaiian League's bloodless coup created basically a 'constitutional' monarchy.

In 1890 the King's health began to deteriorate. On January 20, 1891 while visiting in California, Kalakaua died in a suite at San Francisco's Palace Hotel. Before leaving Hawaii, Kalakaua had appointed an heir-apparent - his sister Princess Lydia Lili'uokalani. Upon his death, Lili'uokalani became Hawaii's first reigning Queen - and its last monarch.

King Kalakaua & Robert Louis Stevenson