0:00

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to even the

0:02

royals early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery

0:04

Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple

0:06

Podcasts. A quick

0:08

note about our show. We do a lot

0:10

of research for our stories, but we also aren't

0:12

your boring high school history class. So some

0:14

details and scenes are dramatized. And

0:17

our language may be saltier than spam

0:19

and eggs, so please be advised. It's

0:29

Spring 1891. Queen

0:31

Liliu Okalani is watching the government cabinet

0:34

ministers file into the Blue Room at

0:36

Iolani Palace for a special meeting. They're

0:39

normally a noisy bunch of blowhards. But

0:41

today, the mood in the room is

0:43

tense. But Liliu doesn't mind.

0:46

They can squirm. It's been

0:48

a couple months since her brother, the King, died,

0:50

and she became queen of Hawaii. The

0:53

official morning period ended yesterday. But Liliu

0:55

is still dressed head to toe in

0:58

black. And not just because of her

1:00

grief. She's about to give

1:02

the cabinet ministers some hard news. So

1:04

she's gotta give her best boss-ass bitch

1:06

right now. And the badass

1:08

energy is especially in need today.

1:10

Because Liliu is the only woman,

1:13

and the only native Hawaiian, in

1:16

this room full of white, mustachey

1:18

faces. Oh, god. Your

1:20

nightmare. Truly my nightmare. She

1:24

glares at the cabinet. I'm picturing

1:26

full-on Olivia Pope energy right now. You

1:28

don't want to mess with that. No,

1:30

not if you have any sense in

1:32

your body. Four years

1:34

ago, these guys forced her brother

1:36

to sign the infamous bayonet constitution,

1:38

which stripped the monarch of important

1:40

powers and took rights away from

1:42

native Hawaiians. And when Liliu

1:44

became queen, they forced her to swear an

1:47

oath to uphold it. Like within

1:49

hours after learning that her brother died.

1:52

She'll never forget how terrible that

1:54

felt. She's been waiting

1:56

months to deliver some sweet, sweet

1:58

payback. And today, The is

2:00

finally the day the minister start

2:03

to seller and I'm government updates

2:05

let really. Still

2:07

deal with her and I. See

2:10

well as she's like I'm done with

2:12

you know golf. time to hand and

2:14

of resignation letters please and thank you.

2:17

The minister starts a protest. One of

2:19

them even says that what she's asking

2:21

them to do. Is illegal. but

2:23

Li Li who is like sorry

2:26

my dude I did my homework

2:28

and I can Absolutely Casey of.

2:31

Card. We. Love a queen who

2:33

has done her research honestly. you gotta

2:35

com with those receive you do. It's

2:38

a rookie mistakes and not do it.

2:40

That's why half the people on Real

2:42

Housewives get an outlaw Bagley. Exactly? Now

2:45

they may have taken away a lot

2:47

of the monarchs powers, but they for

2:49

about one loophole, the death of her

2:52

brother means that his cabinet have to

2:54

resign as the new sovereign. Really who

2:56

has the right for point their replacements

2:59

and they can damn well be sir

3:01

her new cabinet. Won't include any

3:03

of them. All

3:05

her life, Li Li who has

3:07

done what other people have expected

3:09

of her, her brother, her husband

3:12

for advisors. but now she's the

3:14

Queen and she's gonna start acting

3:16

like it. The ministers leave the

3:18

room and leaders smile for herself.

3:20

She's just jumped into the political.

3:22

Ball Pit. It's a huge step

3:25

towards taking her country back, but

3:27

Leo's. Not night. She knows the man

3:29

she just fired are powerful businessmen and

3:31

they are gonna take the last line

3:34

down now that she's made her play

3:36

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and his knee injury. From

5:13

wondering on book the friend and I

5:15

am I resisted more William and there

5:17

will be than the royal. This.

5:27

Super theories as all about Li Lu

5:30

Ocalan the first and last clean as

5:32

the Kingdom of Hawaii and bought one

5:34

Really? In. Came of old and the Hawaiian

5:36

Corn and supported her brother when he became

5:39

king. And he became had

5:41

air but when powerful coroner's jam

5:43

through a new constitution that for

5:45

thrive in her people he couldn't

5:47

stay silent. Now of queen she

5:49

sat on becoming a ruler. The

5:51

Hawaiian the release of the case. The men

5:54

tend to feel her home. And on

5:56

her. cool

6:00

All it really is is a mood. It's

6:09

a warm December night in 1892. Over

6:12

a year and a half since Li Liu gave

6:14

her old cabinet the boot and replaced them with

6:16

men she chose. She's pacing

6:18

back and forth in the living room of her

6:20

home at Washington Place. Normally, Li

6:23

Liu looks forward to the end of the

6:25

year celebrations, but this December,

6:27

she feels anything but Christmas cheer.

6:30

It's been a pretty shitty year. In

6:32

fact, her badass you're fired moment

6:35

aside, it's been a pretty rough

6:37

two years since she became queen. Her

6:39

brother, sister, and

6:41

husband John all died. Oh,

6:44

okay. I'm

6:46

not laughing at the death, but like your reaction. I

6:49

know I had the same reaction. I was like, wow.

6:51

And also this is the husband who made

6:53

her live with his mom, right? Yes.

6:57

So he died. Her brother. Well,

6:59

her brother was the king. Yeah. The

7:01

one that had the bayonet agreement and her sister. Yeah. All

7:04

gone in the last two years. Yeah.

7:08

Jesus. I know. And then as

7:10

soon as she assumed power, her list of

7:12

haters grew faster than Arisha's list of crushes.

7:14

That's a long list. That

7:16

is an impressive comparison. Thank

7:18

you so much. Now some of these

7:20

haters even had the balls to ask

7:22

for new cabinet posts. And

7:25

when Lily said, hell no, they responded

7:27

with hit pieces on her in the

7:29

papers. They claimed she was

7:31

having an affair with her Marshall. Of course

7:33

they did. Now remember, Lily

7:36

is a boss. So she

7:38

responded by threatening to send

7:40

soldiers to literally smash the

7:42

guy's printing pool. I

7:45

love that kind of energy. Yes.

7:49

But Lily who has way bigger concerns than

7:51

a couple of butt hurt little losers. Hawaii's

7:54

economy is in the pits thanks to

7:56

an unstable sugar market. American

7:59

Sugar barons can. He knew to pillage

8:01

the islands land for profit and they

8:03

still have way more political power then

8:06

Li Lu would like. And to top

8:08

it all off, it's been nearly impossible

8:10

for her to lead Hawaii under this

8:12

dumb ass bayonet constitution. From the moment

8:15

she took office, native Hawaiians begged her

8:17

to do something about it. Which

8:19

is super hard when you've lost a lot

8:21

of governing power. So basically Li Li who

8:23

needs power to get back more power and

8:26

that's a tall order. So that's like the

8:28

ones with are like we have an internship.

8:30

You need thirty years of experience

8:32

and. We'd have a. But.

8:35

Despite all the barriers, the Queen worked

8:37

with her allies to do something bag.

8:39

Write a new constitution or starters.

8:41

It would put voting power back

8:43

into the hands of Native Hawaiians

8:45

and it would give the monarch

8:47

a lot of governing power back

8:49

to. Like. Lilia would no longer

8:52

have to jump through loopholes to replace the

8:54

cabinet member in the future. The basically what

8:56

I'm saying as she got more Don't Need

8:58

You Ninety Two than I did between my

9:00

birth and now it's good for her. Now.

9:02

At this very moment, allies legislature is

9:05

considering a bill about whether to change

9:07

the constitution. If they say yes then

9:09

Lelio can be like great. I just

9:11

happy to have this lemonade right year

9:13

ago. My god, what is the see?

9:15

Joseph Stalin of my part? Just this

9:17

little thing. Lelio pacers back and forth

9:19

in her living room, hoping and praying

9:22

that the legislature sees that this is

9:24

the right thing to do and that

9:26

her enemies don't find a way to

9:28

ruin her plans. Which is of course,

9:30

the moment when bad news comes enough.

9:32

Can. Literally. A

9:35

messenger enters with a letter for illegal.

9:37

He looks at the handwriting and horse

9:40

and that said, it's a letter from

9:42

one of her allies and she just

9:44

knows I won't. Be Good News is

9:46

never good news these days. Be.

9:49

In Fairmount her thera people working

9:51

to bring her down which does

9:53

she have told him that pledges

9:56

then he says the enemy is

9:58

in the household. the

10:01

calls coming from inside

10:03

the house? Yes, I

10:05

had that same exact thought and reference.

10:07

But this is in her own hand-picked

10:09

cabinet. She chose these people. You can't

10:11

trust anybody when you're at the top.

10:13

I'm sorry, it's true. I know, and

10:15

as much as Lelie, who hates to

10:17

admit it, there's a real chance that

10:19

this warning is correct. But

10:22

there's too much at stake for her to

10:24

panic, at least outwardly. She refuses

10:26

to let anyone get into her way. So

10:29

she'll project cool, calm confidence or

10:32

go down trying. So

10:37

unfortunately for Lelie U, at the

10:39

end of December, the legislature blocked

10:41

her resolution. Oh, God. To no

10:43

one's surprise, the legislators who voted

10:46

yay were mostly Hawaiians,

10:48

while the majority nay opinion came

10:50

mostly from foreign-born members. Lelie

10:53

U's bummed, to put it mildly. But

10:55

she's not out of card tricks. She

10:57

can keep trying to persuade a bunch of lawmakers who don't

10:59

seem to want to work with her, or

11:02

say fuck it, and push

11:04

her constitution through with a royal fiat,

11:06

which is basically the queen equivalent of

11:08

being like, this is happening because I

11:10

said so. And I

11:12

think it's probably obvious which scenario we're

11:14

all hoping for, right? Yeah, because

11:17

I said so. There's a whole movie about it.

11:19

Yeah, exactly. So this is what

11:21

Native Hawaiians obviously want, too. And

11:24

Lelie U's like, I'll take one royal fiat

11:26

with a side of try me, bitch. But

11:30

she can't do it completely alone. If

11:32

she wants to bypass the legislature, she needs

11:34

her cabinet to support it, too, AKA

11:37

the cabinet that might have a mole.

11:40

But if she wants this to happen, she has no

11:42

choice. So Lelie U submits the

11:44

constitution to her cabinet to get their backing,

11:47

and reminds herself that she picked these guys

11:49

for a reason. Plus, most

11:51

had been encouraging her from day one to

11:53

write this new constitution. Because remember,

11:55

the Hawaiian people have been demanding this

11:58

for years. Mole

12:00

or not, she's sure her ministers have

12:02

to support it. Hawaiians are

12:05

getting tired of waiting for change. And

12:07

if change doesn't come soon, their patience

12:09

might run out. A

12:16

few weeks later, on January 14,

12:18

1893, Liliu is walking

12:20

through the gardens at Iolani Palace. It's

12:23

winter, so her gardenias aren't blooming, and

12:25

the whole place looks a little grim.

12:28

But Liliu's still giddy with anticipation.

12:31

She's confident that change is in the air. She's

12:34

waiting to hear from her cabinet. They're

12:36

considering the new constitution right now. And

12:39

she's sure their review is just a formality.

12:42

In fact, Liliu is so confident in

12:44

their support that she invited the Supreme

12:46

Court and members of the legislature to

12:48

celebrate in the throne room. You

12:51

know what my dad always says? Pride goeth

12:53

before the fall. That is

12:55

just a classic, waddie thing to say. Yeah,

12:57

he coined it, if you can believe it. So

13:00

as Liliu continues to walk, an aide

13:02

rushes out to her. The cabinet

13:05

is ready with their recommendation. Liliu's

13:07

like, wait, what? It's only been 30

13:09

minutes. She gave them several

13:11

hours to review the constitution. But

13:14

hey, maybe it was even easier than she

13:16

thought. Never is. I know. Liliu

13:20

blows through the double doors into the cabinet

13:22

room with nervous energy. She eyes

13:24

all four of her ministers trying to ignore that tiny

13:27

voice in the back of her head that one of

13:29

them might be a mole. But

13:31

the voice gets harder to ignore when she

13:33

sees that her ministers look anxious. In

13:36

fact, they look downright guilty. One

13:39

of them pipes up to deliver the verdict. They

13:42

haven't read the new constitution, and

13:44

they don't plan on it. Liliu

13:46

feels her face start to heat up. One

13:49

minister speaks up and says that forcing

13:51

the constitution through without a proper vote

13:53

is too revolutionary. Liliu

13:56

is like, no one was saying that

13:58

when the Hawaiian League shoved the bayonets constitution

14:00

down her brother's throat. Mm-hmm.

14:03

But the ministers dig in their heels. They

14:06

say they won't be part of something that could

14:08

throw the country upside down. They know

14:10

the sugar barons won't let this go down without a fight.

14:13

And unlike Liliu, they're scared of what

14:15

the barons might do. Liliu

14:17

can't believe this is happening. She

14:20

stands up trying to keep her cool. If these

14:22

cowards won't support her, fine. But she's

14:25

not gonna take the blame for failing to

14:27

install a new constitution. There's

14:29

a crowd of native Hawaiians gathered outside

14:31

to celebrate, and they're gonna be furious

14:34

to hear that the cabinet blocks the

14:36

new constitution. This really

14:38

freaks her ministers out, because remember, native

14:40

Hawaiians are fed up with the status

14:42

quo. Yeah. And when they hear that

14:44

there won't be a new constitution, there

14:46

could be a riot. Three

14:48

of the four ministers are so scared that they

14:51

leave. But the one minister

14:53

who stays, pleads with Liliu to change her

14:55

mind. He says the country

14:57

is in a delicate place, and if she

14:59

blames the cabinet, it could lead to violence.

15:03

Liliu pauses at the door. She

15:05

knows he's right. The last thing

15:07

she wants is for Hawaiians to get hurt. She

15:10

returns to her desk with her head high, but

15:12

inside she feels crushed. She

15:15

wanted so badly to restore her people's rights,

15:17

and passing a new constitution was her

15:19

best chance at doing that. Now,

15:22

every path forward feels like a step

15:24

toward chaos. So

15:29

that letter, warning Liliu about an

15:31

enemy, was totally right. Is

15:34

it the guy that stayed behind? Honestly,

15:36

I don't know, and I was wondering

15:38

that too. I was like, which one

15:40

of those four? Yeah. But it turns

15:42

out one of her ministers

15:44

had shown a copy of the Constitution

15:47

to Lauren Thurston. So in case you

15:49

don't remember him from part one, he's

15:51

the leader of the Hawaiian League, which

15:53

was the secret group hellbent on reigning

15:55

in the powers of the monarchy. It's

15:57

the group that put the bayonet Constitution

15:59

in place. It okay. Yeah.

16:01

No, basically earth and went ape shit

16:04

when. He found out that Li Li, who was

16:06

trying to replace the constitution. A

16:08

constitution that he forcefully

16:10

replaced. So the irony is not lost

16:13

on me or awareness more sat. That's

16:16

what Ironic was written about. I

16:18

know this man I found that he says

16:21

it's like having a cause the to say

16:23

get. Away from your head

16:25

of. So after

16:27

all this happened thursday in pressure

16:30

the rest of the ministers to

16:32

not support really with constitution. So.

16:34

Her cabinet left her high and dry. And

16:37

things go from worst to worst. Squared

16:39

was a members of the Hawaiian League

16:41

get tired a pussy footing around and

16:44

form a new group called the Committee

16:46

of Safety. Moved on the same guys,

16:48

same plan, just more public with and

16:50

dumber and a huge costs. Wow. That

16:53

really rolls off the tongue. losers. Yeah

16:55

I will say though, these guys have

16:57

up to their dame. They think that

16:59

Hawaii has become too chaotic and early

17:01

lead was rule and that this chaos

17:03

is bad for business. Which. Is

17:05

rich because they're the ones who caused

17:07

the chaotic political situation in the first

17:10

place? Of course, nobody's ever like, oh,

17:12

it's me. I'm the problem except for

17:14

Taylor Swift. Yeah, it's hypocrisy city over

17:16

here. Yeah, But because

17:19

of all of this, they want

17:21

the Us to kick Leelee you

17:23

off the throne and take control

17:25

of Hawaii by sources aka annexation.

17:27

don't think I? Now I now.

17:29

So Thurston and the American sugar

17:31

barons are counting on their strong

17:33

ties to the States to get

17:35

Hawaii analysed. But really, who can't

17:37

believe the Us would actually do

17:39

this? But at this point Hawaii

17:41

is not a seat of a

17:43

So no, they're not. Estate Hawaii

17:45

at this point is is an

17:47

independent. The kingdom so enacting them

17:50

as basically like. Forcibly

17:52

taking them over by it's their

17:54

trade partners with the U S

17:56

and. Li Li who sees them as

17:59

a quote friendly. Our hands. Why?

18:01

She doesn't believe the annexation

18:03

threat? Oh. Oh dear I. Now

18:06

and Li Li ovale is that

18:08

as long as she's clean shall

18:10

stand in the way of thirst

18:12

and plan and keep fighting for

18:14

her constitution. So let the games

18:16

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First Twenty. Twenty Four see site

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for details. It's

19:57

January seventeenth. see ninety. The

20:00

two days after Lily with cabinet

20:02

rejected her proposal for a new

20:04

constitution and the games has be

20:07

done. Really? Who is staring anxiously

20:09

out the window in the blue

20:11

room at Yoani Palace? From here

20:13

a harbor looks like business as

20:16

usual that things are far. From

20:18

normal in Honolulu. Just yesterday,

20:20

armed American marines march to the

20:22

Palace. If you remember, this

20:24

is where we started. Empire was. I

20:27

gonna say didn't take long were they just waiting? On

20:29

boats other source scatter them in

20:31

the afternoon. So

20:33

no one thing really. you couldn't

20:36

believe what happened just happened. Right

20:38

now there are American soldiers camped

20:40

outside Lilly who's government building. But

20:42

here's the part that gets even

20:44

more baffling. Be truth, weren't sent

20:46

by the Us government and this

20:48

isn't the Us agreeing to annex

20:50

Hawaii. Oh, is using right? That

20:53

is confusing What's going on in?

20:55

Okay so here's the deal. When

20:57

the Sugar bear and heard legally

20:59

you was still fighting for her

21:01

new constitution. They were like,

21:03

ah, lap robes. Course they

21:05

did! They went to the American

21:08

minister to Hawaii he basically an ambassador

21:10

for him and they were like can

21:12

you help us stage a coup for

21:14

fun These turns out this guy is

21:16

friends with or stand and I guess

21:18

was like yeah no problem I'll send

21:20

some guys with guns no questions asked.

21:23

who is like Blimey Freebase? All this.

21:25

Sugar I guess for help I yelled. Yeah,

21:28

it's like, take these decks lesser, all

21:30

that stuff, you can't So that and

21:32

and his cronies did their thing with

21:34

the help of over one hundred and

21:37

fifty highly trained and armed. Soldiers.

21:40

And the sept for the palace the

21:42

Sugar bear and announced that Lelio was

21:44

out and thirst and and co are

21:46

in. And one of thirst.

21:48

Since guys, a man named Sanford

21:50

Door is declared President. Now. Dole

21:53

as a member of the Committee

21:55

of safety aka costs. And

21:58

yes, he's really. to

22:00

the guy who started what is now

22:02

the Dole Food Group, the Dole Plantation,

22:04

the Pineapples! And Dole Whip, the tastiest

22:06

treat around, which I'm now very pissed

22:09

I love. I'm so glad I don't

22:11

like it, but I do love pineapples.

22:13

I did not see that Dole coming. I

22:16

know. Now,

22:18

Liliu can't believe she could be caught

22:20

so off guard. And now she has

22:22

a choice to make. Surrender to Dole

22:24

and the Provisional Government, or

22:26

let her people die fighting. She

22:28

has 700 troops, compared to

22:30

just 150 American soldiers in Honolulu. Well,

22:34

if the game risk has caught me

22:36

anything, it's that 700 should beat 150. Yeah,

22:42

I mean, even if you haven't played the game

22:44

risk, that's what people should. I'm

22:47

dying in a war, okay? It's

22:49

all about world domination. Right,

22:52

right. Well, Liliu doesn't want any Hawaiians to

22:54

die, and she doesn't want to pick a

22:56

fight with the United States. She

22:58

might win this battle, but there's a real chance

23:00

she would lose the war. Liliu

23:03

finally sits at her desk and pulls out a pen. They've

23:06

given her a letter of surrender, all prepped

23:08

and ready for her to sign. Oh, these

23:10

fuckers. But she can't

23:12

quite bring herself to do it, because

23:14

maybe there's another option. There's

23:17

no way to reverse the coup by herself. But

23:19

if she can appeal to the US government, if

23:22

she tattles on Thurston and Dole for going

23:24

rogue, maybe the US will

23:26

reinstate her. And then bam, she's

23:28

queen again. Liliu scribbles

23:30

a few notes on the document. Her ministers

23:33

look at each other like, has she lost

23:35

it? But Liliu's only play

23:37

here is to buy some time. She

23:40

writes a new surrender letter that says she'll,

23:42

quote, yield to the superior force of the

23:44

United States of America. Now it's

23:46

a roll of the dice whether America will hold

23:48

all the steps down, but it's a bet she

23:51

has to make. Otherwise, her

23:53

time as queen is over, and

23:56

Hawaii's fate will be left in the hands

23:58

of the sugar barons. They

24:00

sound like Disney villains at this point. It's

24:08

November 1893, almost a year

24:10

since American Marines landed in

24:13

Honolulu, and since Lee Lee Uu

24:15

sent her revised surrender letter to the U.S. government.

24:18

She's sitting impatiently in the parlor of

24:20

the Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, waiting for

24:22

the new American minister for Hawaii to

24:25

arrive. This isn't the guy

24:27

who ordered the Marines to her doorstep without

24:29

authorization. That guy was

24:31

fired and sent back to the States.

24:33

Too late. They

24:35

should have fired him before all this happened. I

24:38

know. Now, so far, Lee Lee

24:40

Uu's long shot plan actually paid off, at

24:42

least in part. President Cleveland launched

24:44

a full investigation into the coup, but

24:46

it's been 11 months, and Lee Lee

24:48

Uu is still waiting for an answer.

24:51

And today, she's hoping she'll finally

24:53

get one. And

24:55

that is, yes, we'll absolutely restore your

24:58

Queenhood and crush, dole, and thirst into

25:00

smithereens. Unofficial letterhead. Lee

25:04

Lee Uu is optimistic. The Marines who

25:06

landed in Honolulu may have been American,

25:08

but the actual United States government did

25:10

not authorize an invasion of Hawaii. So,

25:13

maybe the odds of this investigation are in

25:15

her favor. Still, nothing's

25:17

a done deal until it's done.

25:21

Finally, the American minister, Albert

25:23

S. Willis, enters. He

25:25

tells Lee Lee Uu that the United States could

25:27

not be more sorry. President

25:30

Cleveland himself sincerely regrets what happened

25:32

with that whole coup thing. He

25:35

also says that it's clear that Lee Lee

25:37

Uu and Hawaii were deeply wronged. He

25:40

really didn't need an investigation to realize this,

25:42

but whatever, at least he came to the

25:44

right conclusion. Yeah? And

25:46

then, Willis gives her the news she's been so

25:48

desperate to hear. President

25:50

Cleveland wants to help put her back in power. He

25:53

agrees that she was overthrown illegally. And

25:57

the U.S. isn't interested in being part of

25:59

a shady too right now. Which I

26:01

gotta say, history really can surprise you

26:04

sometimes. It really can. I was

26:07

literally biting my nails like, oh here we go. I

26:09

know. Alright Cleveland. Yeah, and Leleu

26:12

can't believe what she's hearing. But

26:14

unfortunately, Willis isn't done.

26:17

Willis tells Leleu he needs some assurances

26:19

before they help put her back in

26:21

power. She raises an eyebrow.

26:23

What does he have in mind?

26:26

Willis asks if she would grant amnesty

26:28

to Dole and the other conspirators if

26:30

she's restored to power. Got a lot

26:32

of fucking nerve. I know. And she

26:35

knows what she wants to say. She's

26:37

like, hell to the no. But

26:39

these days, she never knows who's listening.

26:42

Someone could be taking notes in the other room

26:44

right now. So, Leleu

26:46

plays politician and tells Willis

26:48

she will consult with her

26:51

cabinet before deciding on amnesty.

26:53

Nice and diplomatic, right? Mm-hmm.

26:55

But Willis isn't buying it. He wants

26:58

to hear what Leleu would do. Heat

27:01

floods her face. She

27:03

doesn't like being pushed like this. And

27:05

her anger gets the better of her. She

27:08

speaks honestly and says the punishment is not

27:10

just up to her. Hawaii's laws

27:13

say that anyone found guilty of treason

27:15

will be put to death. Ooh.

27:19

And I gotta say, I didn't take her for

27:21

much of a heads-able role, girly. I mean, she's

27:23

been trying to keep the peace this whole time,

27:25

you know? We all have our limits. I

27:27

know. I don't hate it at all. And

27:29

Willis seems shocked by this. It

27:32

clearly was not what he expected her to say. He

27:35

asks Leleu if she plans to carry out

27:37

this law. She tells him that

27:39

if those little co-starters want amnesty, she'll

27:41

agree to it. But they

27:44

will have to give up their property

27:47

and leave Hawaii forever. Mm. Love it.

27:49

Yeah. Honestly, though, like for a group

27:52

of men who pulled this shit twice?

27:54

Yeah. I feel like banishment is pretty

27:56

reasonable. I agree. And honestly, how do

27:59

you even walk around that with your head up.

28:01

They should be ashamed of themselves. They should.

28:04

Now Willis tells her he'll relay her decision

28:06

to President Cleveland. Liliu tries

28:08

to act confident as she walks out,

28:10

but inside she has a feeling she

28:12

just fumbled the ball and

28:14

her best chance at saving her kingdom.

28:20

After that first meeting, Liliu realizes

28:22

she has to backtrack. The

28:24

dreaded Take These Baxis. We've

28:27

heard of it. No, we don't

28:29

do it. No, we don't. But she

28:31

decides to make a more official statement

28:33

and tell the Americans she would pardon

28:36

Dole and his coup mates. Now

28:38

it's better for Hawaii if she gets back to the

28:40

throne and she has to do what's best for

28:43

her people. And doing a

28:45

Take These Baxis actually works. Kind

28:47

of. The Americans keep

28:49

their promise and tell Sanford Dole and

28:52

the provisional government to stand down. But

28:54

that's about as far as the good news goes. Because

28:57

Dole straight up

28:59

refuses. He even

29:01

has the balls to tell the U.S.

29:04

that they have no right to meddle

29:06

in Hawaii. Oh my god. This jabroni

29:09

has got literally

29:11

nothing but nerve. It's

29:14

so true. Like you come into my

29:16

house, make up

29:18

all the rules, fuck everything

29:20

up, then refuse to face

29:22

the consequences of your own

29:24

actions? God, the audacity. And

29:28

if you can't tell by now, basically

29:30

Dole took over Hawaii on the backs

29:32

of American Marines, then flip-flopped and told

29:35

the U.S. to go to hell. Leleu

29:38

is crushed, but she doesn't give

29:40

up. She spends the

29:43

next year meeting with supporters and appealing to

29:45

the U.S. government. Eventually the

29:47

U.S. tells her they won't intervene, but

29:50

they do leave one opportunity on the table.

29:52

They hint that they also won't

29:55

intervene if, oh, I don't know,

29:57

Hawaiians decide to take their country back by

29:59

force. Now

30:02

again, history is a bundle of

30:04

surprises. Yes it is. But the

30:07

thought of war turns Liliu's stomach.

30:09

How can she protect Hawaiians while asking them to

30:12

fight for her? But maybe she

30:14

won't have to ask. A few months

30:16

later, Liliu hears through the grapevine that

30:18

her supporters are planning to fight back

30:20

against Dole's government with force. This

30:23

whole time they've been forming militias,

30:26

gathering weapons, and making plans in

30:28

secret. The people

30:30

she's fought to protect for years are

30:32

now trying to repay the favor. But

30:35

whether they can pull it off is anyone's

30:37

guess. Almost

30:45

two years later, on January 16, 1895, 56-year-old Liliu is

30:47

at home at Washington Place,

30:52

lying in bed, feeling like a

30:54

zombie. She doesn't sleep much these

30:57

days. She's inspiring trying to

30:59

figure out her next move. Because

31:01

that big Hawaiian uprising that was supposed to

31:03

put her back in power, it

31:06

totally failed. Oh come on.

31:08

I know. 10 days ago,

31:10

her supporters rose up against the provisional

31:13

government. But Dole had spies

31:15

in the militia, and the whole plan

31:17

was exposed before they even really got

31:19

started. Hawaiians were

31:21

hurt, and a dozen or so were killed.

31:24

The rest of the militia men were thrown in jail.

31:27

Now, Liliu is left wondering what's to

31:29

become of her. It's

31:31

not clear how much she knew about the plans. But

31:34

it doesn't matter. She's the figurehead of

31:36

this cause, so she's pretty sure she's

31:39

the next target. Lying

31:41

in bed, anxious, and paranoid? Very

31:44

relatable, I gotta say. It's me right

31:46

now. Liliu

31:49

finally gets up. She's not

31:51

gonna get any more sleep no matter how hard she

31:53

tries. Plus, tossing and turning

31:56

won't solve anything. But

31:58

just as she's starting to get dressed... She

32:00

hears a carriage pull up outside. She

32:02

heads to the window and sees two men walking up

32:04

the front path of her home. It's

32:06

the deputy marshal and one of his captains.

32:10

Li Li-U's mind races. This

32:12

could go a lot of ways, most

32:14

of them bad. But by this

32:16

point, we know Li Li-U is going to

32:18

face her problems head-on. She

32:20

doesn't even take time to change out of her mourning dress.

32:23

She walks down the staircase like the queen

32:25

she still is. The

32:28

deputy marshal and captain are already in the

32:30

parlor, speaking with her lady and waiting. Li

32:32

Li-U smiles and invites them in, trying

32:35

to look legal. But

32:37

the deputy shakes his head. They're not

32:39

here to visit. They're here

32:41

with a warrant for her arrest.

32:43

Well, she should just pull a leaf out of Dold's book and be like,

32:45

no. Yeah, no, I refuse.

32:48

Get the fuck out of my house. Exactly. But

32:51

unfortunately, Li Li-U doesn't

32:53

do that. Instead, she tries

32:55

to stay calm and then the deputy says

32:57

it's time to leave. Li

33:00

Li-U nods her head and leaves without a

33:02

fight. She's taken across the

33:04

street to Iolone Palace and placed under

33:06

house arrest. The queen

33:08

of Hawaii is now a

33:11

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34:16

after her arrest the Queen is

34:18

an Iolani palace staring at a

34:20

long document She thinks about

34:22

how it wasn't all that long ago that she

34:25

was in her office working on a new Constitution

34:27

for her people now. She's

34:29

being forced to sign her abdication

34:32

After Liliu was arrested she learned that she

34:35

was accused of harboring weapons at her home

34:38

But Liliu denied it saying that if weapons

34:40

were stored somewhere on her property She had

34:42

no knowledge of it and

34:44

now this document makes official what has

34:46

already been in effect for two years

34:49

Liliu is no longer Queen of

34:51

Hawaii She doesn't want

34:53

to sign it obviously in fact

34:56

She'd rather die than sign it But

34:59

she's been told that if she signs dole

35:01

will release the Hawaiians who tried to revolt

35:04

and if she doesn't She fears that

35:06

some might lose their lives. I'm

35:08

sorry somebody needs to clunk this asshole

35:11

on the head Just the fact that

35:13

he's like become this pseudo leader who

35:15

seems like it's to hold these Hawaiians

35:19

someone should clunk him with one of his

35:21

own pineapples. Yes, I'll show them. Yes, that's

35:23

justice I know, but it doesn't happen

35:25

sadly Liliu

35:27

reads the document again and Plunches

35:30

the pen in her hand she

35:32

tries to keep it together, but it's

35:34

hard Her eyes keep drifting

35:36

to the same words But

35:38

the late Hawaiian monarchy is

35:41

finally and forever ended if

35:43

she signs this now There's no going

35:46

back She looks back at

35:48

the abdication and breathed out a long

35:50

sigh What choice does

35:52

she have really she can't have

35:54

more blood on her hands Liliu shakes

35:56

as she dips her pen in the inkwell

36:00

She fights back tears and signs her

36:02

name. But even in

36:04

this moment of defeat, Liliu holds

36:06

on to one last act of defiance.

36:09

She was told to sign the document with her married

36:11

name, Liliu O'Kalani Dominus,

36:14

and she does. But Liliu was

36:16

crowned queen under one name only, Liliu

36:19

O'Kalani. So to her,

36:21

this means her signature is technically void

36:24

and that she's still the true queen

36:26

of Hawaii. Love it. Void

36:28

or not, Liliu is out of power

36:31

officially. And she only has one

36:33

final trick up her sleeve to save her homeland.

36:36

But it's by far the longest

36:38

shot yet. Things

36:44

are looking pretty bleak for Liliu.

36:46

By signing the abdication oath, she renounced

36:49

all claims and rights to the Hawaiian

36:51

throne. But Dole isn't done with

36:53

her yet. He strips the

36:55

palace of all of its royal

36:57

decorations. Then he converts

36:59

the throne room into a courtroom

37:01

and puts Liliu on trial for

37:03

mis-prison of treason, which I've never

37:06

heard of. Is he just making

37:08

up things? Yeah, so

37:10

basically that's treason for knowing treason

37:12

was afoot and not doing anything

37:14

to stop it. It

37:16

just kind of sounds like conspiracy for treason. Isn't that

37:18

an easier way to say it? Look, I don't mean

37:20

to just keep harping on this, but why is nobody

37:22

being like, hey, why don't

37:25

you go plant some pineapples idiot and get

37:27

out of here? I

37:29

honestly was wondering the same thing. Like does

37:31

no one care? Overthrow this guy.

37:34

But Liliu is found guilty

37:36

and put under house arrest. She's

37:39

utterly humiliated, but

37:41

she still holds on to hope that her story

37:43

isn't over yet. Almost

37:48

two years into her five year

37:50

sentence, Liliu is fully released from

37:52

home confinement. She's

37:54

surprised when she's handed a full pardon signed

37:57

by Sanford Dole. He

37:59

is now the president. of the new independent

38:01

republic of Hawaii. For Liliu,

38:03

it's a bittersweet moment. On

38:05

the one hand, she's finally free. On

38:08

the other hand, the words President Sanford

38:11

Dole make her want to throw up.

38:13

Her and me both. And me. Yeah.

38:16

And now that Liliu is released, she's

38:18

supposed to chill and fade into history.

38:20

But she's like, screw that. She

38:22

starts planning a trip to the United States

38:24

to see some relatives. At least

38:26

that's what everyone thinks. Her

38:29

real mission is to visit the White House

38:31

and attempt to win back her crown with

38:33

one last Hail Mary. In

38:35

January of 1897, just a

38:37

few months after Liliu's release, the former

38:39

queen makes an appearance in Washington

38:42

as planned. She meets

38:44

with President Cleveland, but after 15 minutes of

38:46

forced small talk, it's clear to her that

38:48

the days of the U.S. supporting Hawaii

38:50

and her are over. RIP

38:54

is a time history was surprising us.

38:56

I really miss that. Yeah, that

38:58

was short lived. I'm shocked. It

39:01

was. So now Liliu has to get back on

39:03

a ship to Hawaii, knowing that even though she

39:05

did everything she could, she

39:08

will likely never be queen again.

39:11

It sounds like it's time for another coup. Ha

39:14

ha ha. It's

39:20

August 2nd, 1898. A

39:23

year and a half after President Cleveland was

39:25

like, don't call us, we'll call you. Liliu

39:28

stands at the bow of a steamship scanning

39:30

the dark coastline of Oahu as they pull

39:32

into port. It's just

39:35

after midnight, and she's relieved to be home

39:37

again. She spent the last

39:39

year and a half trying to show influential

39:41

Americans that she and all Hawaiians

39:43

are worth fighting for. But

39:45

in reality, she was holding out hope for a

39:47

miracle, and none came to pass.

39:50

And it gets worse, because just a

39:52

few months after Liliu met with President

39:54

Cleveland, a new US president

39:56

was elected, William McKinley. He-

40:00

Sides that the Us will actually

40:02

take away over. After all though,

40:04

he's forced a bill through Congress

40:06

and it passed with flying colors.

40:09

Mckinley. Signed it on July seventh,

40:11

Eighty Ninety Eight, and Hawaii. He became

40:13

a part of the United States. That's.

40:15

It. Game. Over that's like me being

40:17

like you know why? I

40:20

want killer. On a good

40:22

aside, and I own Canada? Not leak. Who

40:25

are? you Do have the same power

40:27

of the. Were

40:30

virtually indiscernible, It's really are The

40:32

Dell. Leadership

40:34

Pulls up to the dock, she

40:36

spots the familiar Hawaiian flag flapping

40:39

proudly over the government building and

40:41

her heart sinks. She knows it

40:43

won't be long until it's replaced

40:45

by the American Stars and Stripes.

40:48

Her thoughts spiral. Is there something

40:50

else she could have done with

40:52

every scenario arrives at the same

40:55

conclusion. Failure. Chino

40:57

so never recover from this. She

40:59

plays that her people will. Then

41:02

really, who sees that hundreds of

41:04

her people are waiting for her

41:06

on land? but instead of cheers,

41:08

they're dead. Silence She can't tell

41:11

are they angry? Lelio blurts out

41:13

the only thing she can think

41:15

of to cut the tension. Aloha.

41:19

Leaders greeting breaks the damn a full

41:21

lot of a low Hawes and Sears.

41:24

Breakout others was immortal.

41:26

They're not angry at

41:28

her self. Use her.

41:31

He needn't he hated anymore. She

41:33

lived here is mean down her

41:35

cheeks. She raises her head high.

41:39

Back on the Hawaiian soil,

41:41

she lost her crown. She

41:43

lost her country. Is

41:46

she never lost her dignity and

41:48

hearing. The tears of her people she

41:50

knows, the. spirit of her flight

41:52

will live on long after season

42:02

So, Arisha, there we have it. The

42:05

story of Queen Liliu

42:07

O'Kalani, Hawaii's first and

42:09

only queen. So before

42:12

we dissect all of this, here is

42:14

a little wrap up to her truly

42:16

giant story. So Liliu

42:18

worked to preserve a historic network of

42:21

trails on the islands. She

42:23

ended up publishing her memoir, which was

42:25

the first book published by a native

42:28

Hawaiian woman. And in

42:30

1909, she established a trust for children

42:32

in need and dedicated her estate

42:34

to helping Hawaii's children. She

42:37

died in 1917 and was given a royal burial. In

42:42

1959, Hawaii voted to become the 50th

42:44

U.S. state. And in

42:46

1993, President Clinton signed a formal

42:48

apology for the 1893 coup, acknowledging

42:50

that quote,

42:53

the native Hawaiian people never directly

42:56

relinquished to the United States their

42:58

claims to their inherent sovereignty. But

43:00

we're still not giving you your

43:02

country back. The United States doesn't need

43:04

50. Right. Yeah. Now,

43:07

although the Hawaiian kingdom may have

43:10

ended, Hawaiians didn't quit. There are

43:12

many today who continue to advocate

43:14

for an independent Hawaii. And

43:16

you know what? I support them. I fully

43:18

support them. I don't know why anybody wouldn't,

43:20

especially in this day and age. We know everything

43:22

we know about like the world. Why

43:25

wouldn't we want that? I know. So

43:28

do you have any any

43:30

final thoughts? Well, based off the

43:32

wrap up, I got to say she's a better

43:35

woman than I, because I would have spent

43:37

the rest of my life living in Petty

43:39

City. Would not be

43:41

establishing fuck all for anyone. But

43:46

I mean, it's a heartbreaking story. These stories are

43:48

always so sad because she seemed so alone and

43:50

always up against these people

43:57

that had no right going up against her. a

44:00

lot and it infuriates me.

44:02

This dole guy, I

44:05

have to go burn all my cans of pineapple now.

44:09

Yeah, I think for me of all the stories

44:11

we've told so far on this show, this one

44:13

like really gets me in

44:15

the field mostly because she seemed

44:17

to care so much about the people

44:20

of Hawaii and they seem to care

44:22

so much for her and just something

44:24

about that like camaraderie of them. I

44:26

don't know, it just really gets me

44:28

like it's really sweet that they stood

44:30

by her through all of it. I just I

44:33

really love that part of the story. Well,

44:35

especially in this day and age, it seems so

44:37

easy for people to turn on anybody

44:40

that's in a leadership position, not that it's

44:42

misplaced, but just I think

44:44

that it's really that she did everything she could

44:47

with what she had. It wasn't

44:49

enough, but they recognize that instead of just

44:51

being like, Oh, you screwed us

44:53

over. We hate you. I know. She

44:55

says a lot about her and her people. Paradise

45:26

Lost, part two of our two

45:28

part series on Queen Liliu O'Kilani.

45:30

We use many sources when researching

45:32

our stories, but we especially recommend

45:34

Lost Kingdom by Julia Flynn-Sylor and

45:37

Hawaii Stories by Hawaii's Queen by

45:39

Liliu O'Kilani. You can

45:41

follow us, your host, on socials, at

45:43

Arisha Stidmore-Williams and at Brooke Ziffrin. I'm

45:47

Brooke Ziffrin. And I'm Arisha Stidmore-Williams.

45:49

Andrew Barbo wrote this episode, story

45:51

editing by Michaela Bly and sound

45:53

design by Sam Ada. Our

45:56

cultural consultant was Noah Hanohano-Dolan.

45:58

Our associate producer is Hannah

46:00

Ward. Our coordinating producer is Sarah

46:02

Sniffen and our managing producer is

46:04

Sophia Martin. Rachel Engelman and

46:06

Julie Magruder are our producers and

46:08

our executive producers are Jenny Lower

46:10

Beckman, Ginny Bloom, Marshall Louie and

46:13

Erin O'Flaherty for Wondery. Hey,

46:32

I'm Arisha and I'm Brooke and we're

46:34

the hosts of Wondery's podcast, Even the

46:36

Rich, where we bring you absolutely true

46:38

and absolutely shocking stories about the most

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famous families and biggest celebrities the world

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who always knew she would be famous.

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She made history as the first black

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to fight to prove she's more than

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a punchline. In our series,

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Vanessa Williams, American Beauty, we'll tell you

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