Kamehameha V - Definition and Overview

Kamehameha V was the last monarch of the House of Kamehameha.

Kamehameha V, formally Lot Kapuiwa, reigned as monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1863 to 1872. A bachelor, he did not have any direct heirs to the throne. He asked his niece Bernice Pauahi Bishop to assume the throne upon his death but she refused. Before he had the opportunity to declare a substitute heir, the king died. He was the last monarch of the House of Kamehameha. According to the Constitution of Hawaii, it fell on the legislature to name a new king. The legislature declared an open election for the office, an election won by Kamehameha V's cousin William Charles Lunalilo.