[2] It was lengthened to Kalani Kaleiʻaimoku o Kaiwikapu o Laʻamea i Kauikawekiu Ahilapalapa Kealiʻi Kauinamoku o Kahekili Kalaninui i Mamao ʻIolani i Ka Liholiho when he took the throne.

However, Kamehameha II is disreputably known for the 'Ai Noa, when he broke traditional religious laws, leading to a lengthened period of taboo-breaking, the disbanding of the social class of priest, and the destruction of temples and images.

It was originally planned that he would be born at the Kūkaniloko birth site on the island of Oʻahu but the Queen's sickness prevented travel.

[4][5]: 220–221 Given in care to his father's trusted servant Hanapi, who took the child to the lands of Kalaoa in Hilo Paliku, he was taken back, after five or six months, by his maternal grandmother Kekuʻiapoiwa Liliha because she felt he was not getting the right diet.

[10] Kamehameha II is best remembered for the 'Ai Noa, the breaking of the ancient kapu (taboo) system of religious laws six months into his reign when he sat down with Kaʻahumanu and his mother Keopuolani and ate a meal together.

Kekuaokalani demanded that Liholiho withdraw his edicts against the Hawaiian priesthood, permit rebuilding of the temples, and dismiss both Kalanimōkū and Kaʻahumanu.

At the battle of Kuamoʻo on the island of Hawaiʻi, the king's better-armed forces, led by Kalanimōkū, defeated the last defenders of the Hawaiian gods, temples, and priesthoods of the ancient organized religion.

For example, on November 16, 1820 he bought a Royal Yacht known as Cleopatra's Barge for 8000 piculs of sandalwood (over a million pounds), estimated to be worth about US$80,000 at the time.

Kamehameha II was quite proud of his ship; in the words of Charles Bullard, the agent for the shipowner: If you want to know how Religion stands at the Islands I can tell you — All sects are tolerated but the King worships the Barge.

[11]He tried to gain favor with missionaries by offering free passage on the opulent ship, and regularly entertained foreign visitors with their choice of alcoholic beverages.

He ordered the ship to instead cross a dangerous channel all the way to the island of Kauaʻi, despite having no compass, charts, nor provisions on board.

On April 16, 1822 English missionary William Ellis arrived with a schooner Prince Regent of six guns to add to his growing collection of ships.

It was a gift from George IV the King of Great Britain, and Kamehameha II wrote to thank him, requesting closer diplomatic ties.

In November 1823 Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu commissioned the British whaling ship L'Aigle (French for "the Eagle") under Captain Valentine Starbuck to carry them to London.

Emperor Pedro I received the visitors, presenting Kamehameha II with a ceremonial diamond-encrusted sword with a gold sheath, and in return accepting an ʻahu ʻula, a traditional feather cloak associated with high rank, which was lost in the 2018 fire at the National Museum of Brazil.

They toured London, visiting Westminster Abbey, but the king refused to enter because he did not want to desecrate the British royal burial place "with his presence or his feet stepping in that area.

In August 1824 the bodies returned to Hawaii on the enormous Royal Navy frigate HMS Blonde under the command of Captain George Anson Byron.

Kalanimōkū had been notified of the deaths in a letter from Rives, so Hawaiian royalty gathered at his house where the bodies were moved for the funeral.

[12]: 266 They were buried on the grounds of the ʻIolani Palace in a coral house meant to be the Hawaiian version of the tombs Liholiho had seen in London.