Kamehameha IV (Alekanetero ʻIolani Kalanikualiholiho Maka o ʻIouli Kūnuiākea o Kūkāʻilimoku; anglicized as Alexander Liholiho) (February 9, 1834 – November 30, 1863), reigned as the fourth monarch of Hawaii under the title Ke Aliʻi o ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻAina of the Kingdom of Hawaii from January 11, 1855, to November 30, 1863.
Alexander was born on February 9, 1834, in Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu. His father was High Chief Mataio Kekūanaōʻa, Royal Governor of Oʻahu. His mother was Princess Elizabeth Kīnaʻu the Kuhina Nui or Prime Minister of the Kingdom. He was the maternal grandson of Kamehameha I, first monarch of all the islands. Alexander had three older brothers, David Kamehameha, Moses Kekūāiwa and Lot Kapuāiwa, and a younger sister, Victoria Kamāmalu.
At birth, Alexander was adopted by his uncle, King Kamehameha III. The king visited the newborn child, congratulated his half-sister, and left a note declaring, "The child is mine." This was an act of political and familial reconciliation between the two siblings who were at odds since 1833 when the king had terminated the regency of his half-sister Kīnaʻu. Missionary Levi Chamberlain wrote, the King "seems to be much pleased with his ward Keiki hookama." He was baptized at the Kawaiahaʻo Church, on February 27 by Reverend Hiram Bingham I. Although he and his queen Kalama had two of biological sons named Keaweaweʻulaokalani, they both died young. Thus, he raised Alexander as his heir. Alexander was formally proclaimed as heir to the throne on April 7, 1853, in accordance with Article 25 of the 1852 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
He was named ʻIolani Liholiho after his uncle King Kamehameha II. ʻIolani meant "royal hawk" after the Hawaiian hawk (ʻio) whose high flight signified royalty. Liholiho means "glowing", a contraction of Kalaninuiliholiho or Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu meant "the great chief with the burning back kapu". His name 'Iolani means "hawk of heaven", or "royal hawk".
Alexander Liholiho was educated by Congregationalist missionaries Amos and Juliette Cooke at the Chiefs' Children's School (later known as Royal School) in Honolulu. He was accompanied by 30 attendants (kahu) when he arrived, but they were sent home and for the first time Liholiho was on his own. Alexander Liholiho played the flute and the piano, and enjoyed singing, acting, and cricket.
When he was 14 he left the Royal School and went to study law.
At the age of 15, he went on a government trip to England, the United States, and Panama. Liholiho recorded the events of his trip in a journal.
A diplomatic mission was planned following Admiral de Tromelin's 1849 attack on the fort of Honolulu, the result of French claims stemming back twenty years to the expulsion of Catholic missionaries. Contention surrounded three issues: regulations of Catholic schools, high taxes on French brandy, and the use of French language in transactions with the consul and citizens of France. Although this struggle had gone on for many years, the Hawaiian king finally sent Gerrit P. Judd to try for the second time to negotiate a treaty with France. Envoys Haʻalilio and William Richards had gone on the same mission in 1842 and returned with only a weak joint declaration. It was hoped the treaty would secure the islands against future attacks such as the one it had just suffered at the hands of Admiral de Tromelin. Advisors to Kamehameha III thought it best that the heir apparent, Alexander, and his brother, Lot Kapuāiwa, would benefit from the mission and experience.
With the supervision of their guardian Dr. Judd, Alexander and his brother sailed to San Francisco in September 1849. After their tour of California, they continued on to Panama, Jamaica, New York City, and Washington, D.C. They toured Europe and met with various heads of state, aiming to secure recognition of Hawaii as an independent country. Speaking both French and English, Alexander was well received in European society. He met president of France Louis Napoleon. Sixteen-year-old Alexander Liholiho described a reception given at the Tuileries by:
General La Hitte piloted us through the immense crowd that was pressing on from all sides, and finally we made our way to the president...Mr. Judd was the first one taken notice of, and both of them made slight bows to each other. Lot and myself then bowed, to which the (Louis Napoleon) returned with a slight bend of the vertebras. He then advanced and said, "This is your first visit to Paris", to which we replied in the affirmative. He asked us if we liked Paris to which we replied, very much, indeed. He then said, I am very gratified to see you, you having come from so far a country, he then turned towards the doctor and said, I hope our little quarrel will be settled. to which the Doctor replied. "We put much confidence in the magnanimity and Justice of France."
Failing to negotiate a treaty with France during three months in Paris, the princes and Judd returned to England. They met Prince Albert, Lord Palmerston, and numerous other members of British aristocracy. They had an audience with Prince Albert since Queen Victoria was retired from public view, awaiting the birth of her seventh child, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught.
When we entered, the prince was standing a little aside of the door, and bowed to each of us as we came in. He was a fine man, about as tall as I am, and had a very fine bust, and straight legs. We kept standing, Palmerston on my right, and the doctor on my left, and then Lot. the prince began the conversation by asking if we intended to make a long stay (in London) to which I answered by saying that we expected to leave in about a week and then Mr. Judd made a few remarks on his business.
In May 1850, the royal brothers, boarded a ship in England and sailed to the United States for a more extensive stay before returning. At Washington D.C., they met with President Zachary Taylor and Vice President Millard Fillmore. He experienced American racism firsthand when he was almost removed from his train car after being mistaken for a slave. The prince had preceded Dr. Judd and Prince Lot in occupying the compartment reserved for them for a return trip to New York and someone had arrived at the door of the compartment and questioned Alexander's right to be there. The prince wrote in his journal:
I found he was the conductor, and took me for somebody's servant just because I had a darker skin than he had. Confounded fool;. the first time that I have ever received such treatment, not in England or France or anywhere else........In England an African can pay his fare and sit alongside Queen Victoria. The Americans talk and think a great deal about their liberty, and strangers often find that too many liberties are taken of their comfort just because his hosts are a free people.
At a dinner party in New York with friends of Judd, the princes were again exposed to a racist incident. Helen Kinau Wilder recalled in her memoirs:
In Geneva (New York), visiting friends, the butler was very averse to serving "blacks" as he called them, and revenged himself by putting bibs at their places. Alexander unfolded his, saw the unusual shape, but as he had seen many strange things on his travels concluded that must be something new, so quietly fitted the place cut out for the neck to his waist. Their hostess was very angry when she found what a mean trick her servant had played on them.
These displays of prejudice in the United States and the puritanical views of American missionaries probably influenced his slightly anti-American point of view, along with that of the rest of the royal family. Judd later wrote about him: "The King educated by the Mission, most of all things dislikes the Mission. Having been compelled to be good when a boy, he is determined not to be good as a man." At the same time, he embraced Anglophilia and its main tenants, professing the faith of Anglicanism as a founder of the Hawaii Reformed Catholic Church, as well as enjoying its culture such as pantomimes and dramas of Shakespeare.