Wednesday, June 6, 2012

God Save the Queen - Hawaii's View

God Save The Queen by Royal Orchestra on Grooveshark

 Perhaps our Brit Friends wonder
what we out-landers make
of this week's 
Golden Jubilee.



Well, in a world of
constant change,
constancy
is noted,
valued,
appreciated;

Especially constancy
in Duty.


What ever the politics
of the moment,
the Queen
is for ALL her people.


For us too-
your cultural, linguistic
offspring and allies-
she has been a fixture
of the world we share.


She provides something
both ancient
and contemporary.


She is a great gem
of a great people
and nation
that have given much
to the 
whole world.


God Bless the Queen!



Sincerely, 

                                   an American


Now for the HAWAII twist! 


Unlike other Americans,
we of Hawaii
still remember our own
monarchy.

Our Hawaiian kings & queens 
ever flavor our experience
of living in these islands.

From Iolani Palace,
to Queens Medical Center,
to St. Andrew's Cathedral,
and the affiliated
St. Andrew's Priory School,
they are still present with us
in many authentic ways.

Their names are on our streets,
and ever in our hearts.

They are beloved,
and fondly remembered.

Their statues
grace our lovely islands.

But there is are connections
more than symbolic
between the royalty of Hawaii
and that of Great Britain.


  Hawaii's Queen Emma 
was warmly received
 by Queen Victoria
 herself.


 Victoria's Diamond Jubilee





 The two widow queens

 sympathized with one other
 as Queen Victoria recorded
 in her journal
 on September 9, 1865:

   
"After luncheon I received Queen Emma, 

the widowed Queen of the Sandwich Islands 
or Hawaii.
Met her in the Corridor & nothing
 could be nicer or more dignified 
than her manner.
She is dark, but not more so than an Indian,
 with fine feathers [features?] & splendid soft eyes.
 She was dressed in just the same 
widow's weeds as I wear.
 I took her into the White Drawing room, 
where I asked to sit down next to me on the sofa.
She was moved when I spoke to her 
of her great misfortune in losing her only child.
She was very discreet & would only remain 
a few minutes. She presented her lady,
 Mrs. Hoopile whose husband is her Chaplain, 
both being Hawaiians.... "

 
Despite the obvious difference 

in station, Queen Emma
 and Queen Victoria 
had both lost sons
 and spouses.

Both bore the responsibility
of the crown.

 The two queens
 became life-long friends,
and shared a lively exchange
of correspondence.
 

  Emma traveled to London in 1865
 specifically to visit 
and spent a night
 at Windsor Castle
 on November 27. 


Our ubiquitous 

Hawaiian Heirloom Jewelry, 
  originated with a gift
 from Queen Victoria to
Hawaii's Princess Liliuokalani
 in 1880. 

  It was a solid gold bracelet 

with the Princess' name 
engraved and enameled upon it
in olde English script.

 Another famous example:

Queen Emma's own
silver bracelet
engraved

 "Aloha ia ka heiheimalie."

(Very Roughly:
 "Love for the People of the Fragrant Maile" 
Hawaii's people were oft likened to flowers.
Kaulana Na Pua - the patriot's song of
Hawaii, praises the famous flowers- PUA- of Hawaii
i.e. her people-


Kaulana Na Pua by Makaha Sons of Niʻihau on Grooveshark
[If you play this song, while God Save the Queen
continues, they make a unique blend!]

These Victorian style heirlooms
are seen everywhere.
They are popular gifts for
graduations, births, anniversaries,
and WORN (not locked away). 
I wear several daily.

  Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV 
They petitioned the Church of England
 to help establish the Church of Hawaii


 We look upon Elizabeth
and we feel a kinship,
and a loss.

A  L  O  H  A


                                             Warmly, cloudia

21 comments:

Daryl said...

fascinating post

Akelamalu said...

Lovely post Cloudia and so interesting. :)

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Brilliant post Cloudia, I already knew from reading your book about the respect you have for the Hawaiian history, it's lovely that you feel the same way about the English Royalty also. the Jubilee celebrations in London were spectacular (weather aside!) did you watch them? Now I'm wondering to what you refer with the armed forces coming to Perth, I had heard that there would be some US forces in the Northern Territory, or do you mean that there will be a US navy ship coming into dock here?

Pietro Brosio said...

Beautiful and interesting post, Cloudia. The Jubilee celebrations have been magnificent!

Full-On-Forward said...

I Love your History Lesson posts!!!

J

Anonymous said...

Mahalo for the details. An amazing time. Wish the Queens were around today to help with world strife. Respect and dignity could make a comeback. DrumMajor

Young at Heart said...

wow...how utterly fascinating...shame simmilarities don't run to the weather!!

Myrna R. said...

So interesting. I guess very often, regardless of earthly class, women find commonality in life.

Cloudia, thanks so much for your recent comment on my blog. I think you're one of the few people who "got" it. Poetry is relatively new to me, so my posts are merely experimental learning experiences. But thanks for your compliment.

RONW said...

the Union Jack is on the Hawaiian flag, in the canton. Admiral Thomas (Royal Navy) also returned the land back to the people after his second-in-command had invaded the islands.

Charles Gramlich said...

An interesting bit of history that I didn't know. Have you considered submitting articles such as this to local history publications? Or maybe even newspapers?

Anonymous said...

Thank you for teaching me what I did not know before.

Please have a good Thursday you all.

Friko said...

Kings and Queens forever!

Not that I'm a monarchist or anything.

SandyCarlson said...

I appreciate your Hawaiian twist! Great stuff here.

Cloudia said...

Thanks m`Dears!

Kay said...

This is such a perfect, wonderful post to go along with the Diamond Jubilee. I had no idea about Emma and Victoria's friendship. This was so very interesting. I really loved reading this, Cloudia. Thank you so much! It's so lovely to know that two queens from entirely different cultures could treasure a friendship as they did.

The Weaver of Grass said...

A lovely tribute to our Queen and to our nation - thank you Cloudia.

DeniseinVA said...

I loved reading this, very, very interesting. I never knew the connection between Queen Emma and Queen Victoria. Thank you for bringing this to light Cloudia.

Cloudia said...

You are 3 queens of my heart. thank you, your majesties

Thistle Cove Farm said...

Fabulous post, Cloudia. Too many people don't know our own history much less England's history. I love Hawaii and her history. There's much to be said for duty and dignity; both are in short supply these days.
Mahalo

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