Emma Kalanikaumakaʻamano Kaleleonālani Naʻea Rooke (January 2, 1836 – April 25, 1885) was queen of Hawaii as the wife of King Kamehameha IV from 1856 to his death in 1863.

She was baptized into the Anglican faith on October 21, 1862, as "Emma Alexandrina Francis Agnes Lowder Byde Rooke Young Kaleleokalani.

[3] Queen Emma was also honoured in the 19th century mele "Wahine Holo Lio" (horseback riding lady) referring to her renowned horsemanship.

She was adopted under the Hawaiian tradition of hānai by her childless maternal aunt, chiefess Grace Kamaʻikuʻi Young Rooke, and her husband, Dr. Thomas C. B.

[8] On her mother's side, Emma was the granddaughter of John Young, Kamehameha I's British-born military advisor known as High Chief Olohana, and Princess Kaʻōanaʻeha Kuamoʻo.

[14] It can be noted that one historian of the time, Samuel Kamakau, supported Queen Emma's descent from Keliʻimaikaʻi and the genealogy stated by Liliuokalani have been contested in her own lifetime.

Like her classmates Bernice Pauahi Bishop, David Kalākaua and Lydia Liliʻuokalani, Emma was cross-cultural — both Hawaiian and Euro-American in her habits.

When the school closed, Dr. Rooke hired an English governess, Sarah Rhodes von Pfister, to tutor the young Emma.

In 1861, she sang in the chorus of a performance of Verdi's opera Il Trovatore in Honolulu while her husband the King acted as stage manager.

Inspired by her adoptive father's work, she encouraged her husband to establish a public hospital to help the Native Hawaiians who were in decline due to foreign-borne diseases like smallpox.

[17] In 1860, Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV entertained a group of Japanese diplomats who were stopping in Honolulu on their way to Washington.

With her husband, she championed the Anglican (Episcopal) church in Hawaii and founded St. Andrew's Cathedral, raising funds for the building.

The Feast of the Holy Sovereigns is celebrated annually in the Episcopal Church in Hawaii on November 28, honoring Kamehameha IV and Emma.

In her time in Europe, she met with Queen Victoria, Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie of France, and King Ludwig I of Bavaria, who unsuccessfully proposed to Emma,[26] and Grand Duke Frederick I and Grand Duchess Louise of Baden and other Europeans royals, government dignitaries and Anglican clergy.

Two hours after settling in the hotel she received the news, via telegram, of her hānai mother Grace's death in Hawaii on July 26.

In San Francisco, the United States government dispatched the USS Vanderbilt to bring her back to Honolulu by October 22.

Salutations to You — Whereas His Majesty Lunalilo departed this life at the hour of nine o'clock last night; and by his death the Throne of Hawaii is left vacant, and the nation is without a head or a guide.

It will be remembered that at the time of the election of the late lamented Sovereign, I put forward my own claim to the Throne of our beloved country, on Constitutional grounds — and it is upon those grounds only that I now prefer my claims, and call upon you to listen to my call, and request you to instruct your Representatives to consider, and weigh well, and to regard your choice to elect me, the oldest member of a family high in rank in the country.

Iolani Palace, Feb. 4, 1874.Queen Emma issued her proclamation the next day: To the Hawaiian People: Whereas, His late lamented Majesty Lunalilo died on the 3rd of February, 1874, without having publicly proclaimed a Successor to the Throne; and whereas, "His late Majesty did before his final sickness declare his wish and intention that the undersigned should be his Successor on the Throne of the Hawaiian Islands, and enjoined upon me not to decline the same under any circumstances; and whereas.

She also strongly wished to stop Hawaii's dependence on American industry and to give the Native Hawaiians a more powerful voice in government.

News of her defeat caused a large-scale riot in which thirteen legislators supporting Kalākaua were injured; one, J. W. Lonoaea, ultimately died of his injuries.

[40] In order to quell the civil disruption, American and British troops stationed on warships in Honolulu Harbor were landed with the permission of the Hawaiian government, and the rioters were arrested.

[27] They exchanged letters, and Emma met Victoria for the first time on September 9, 1865, on her trip to England and later spent a night at Windsor Castle on November 27.

She presented her lady, Mrs. Hoopile whose husband is her Chaplain, both being Hawaiians....[43]In 1883, Emma suffered the first of several small strokes and died two years later on April 25, 1885, at the age of 49.

Its landholding in the division known as the Queen Emma Land Company include the International Marketplace and Waikiki Town Center buildings.