Kalākaua's Privy Council of State

Longest serving royal court member was Charles Reed Bishop, who advised monarchs for over three decades, from Kamehameha IV to Liliʻuokalani.

[6] Chun Afong emigrated from China at age 24 to clerk in his uncle's retail trade, possessing a business acumen that eventually brought him great wealth on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

[7] British born William Lowthian Green had been a prospector during the California Gold Rush, before helping establish the Honolulu Iron Works.

[10] Privy counselors William Nevins Armstrong, Charles Hastings Judd and George W. Macfarlane accompanied the king on his 1881 world tour to negotiate plantation labor contracts with friendly nations.

After the financial success of the reciprocity treaty, Kalākaua began surrounding himself with advisors who told him what he wanted to hear, instead of those who would act as a balance between the ambitions of the monarchy and the needs of the kingdom.

He appointed Walter Murray Gibson as his Prime Minister, charged with carrying out the king's agenda, and subsequently creating a large turnover in his cabinet.

Italian soldier of fortune Celso Caesar Moreno was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, and forced to resign after four days when denied recognition by the diplomatic corps stationed in Hawaii.