[5] Keʻelikōlani's mother was Kalani Pauahi who died on June 17, 1826,[6][7] during childbirth[8] after having married the man believed to be her father, Mataio Kekūanaōʻa[1] on November 28, 1825.

[9] She was born at Pohukaina near the ʻIolani Palace[4] and hānai adopted by Kaʻahumanu[10] Kalani Pauahi, was the daughter of Pauli Kaōleiokū and Keouawahine.

[11][12] Kaōleiokū was one of the three sons of Kānekapōlei that rebelled against their half brother Kīwalaʻō and their uncle Kamehameha I when their father Kalaniʻōpuʻu died and left them no lands.

[14] It was said that Kalani Pauahi was Kamehameha I's granddaughter through her father Kaōleiokū[7][13] however, in 1935 the Hawaiian Historical Society published their Forty-Third Annual Report (for 1934) with an article by archaeologist, John F.G. Stokes entitled; "Kaoleioku, Paternity and Biographical Sketch", that Stokes believed, if correct, demonstrated that Pauli Kaōleiokū was not a son of Kamehameha l.[15] Kalani Pauahi's mother Keouawahine was a daughter of Kauhiwawaeono, whose parents were Kekauhiwamoku and Haalou.

[19][7][8] While many sources and writers differ on the date and reason,[19] Francisco de Paula Marín had noted in his journal in 1826 the specific day Kalani Puahi died; "17 June.

[6] Some years later John Papa ʻĪʻī wrote; "The mother died in childbirth on June 17, 1826",[8] a date that anthropologist Alexander Spoehr agrees with.

However professor in Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Noel Kent, gives the date of Keʻelikōlani's birth as February 9, 1826, a four-month difference.

[20] Professor Seth Archer in his 2018 publication; "Sharks upon the Land: Colonialism, Indigenous Health, and Culture in Hawai'i" lists Pauahi among those that died of a whooping cough outbreak.

Kahalaiʻa was appointed governor of the Island of Kauai and took command of the Russian fort with its fifty mounted canons and ordered armed guards to the tops of its walls.

[26] On August 8, 1824, the day after Kalanimoku held a failed council to annex the island, those dissatisfied with the land disbursement went to war.

[b] John Fawcett Pogue published an account of the rebellion written by Hawaiian students in his book; "Moolelo of Ancient Hawaii" in 1858.

[21] Kamakau mentions an outbreak of "cough and bronchitis" that killed several people including Pauahi and then goes on to discuss Kalanimoku and Kahalaiʻa's death but not how they died.

ʻĪʻī states that the relationship may possibly have stemmed from "illicit relations" prior to the king's death that remained hidden but on Kekūanaōʻa's return the "affair was evident".

[38] On June 20 Boki visited with Nahienaena and Kamehameha III and advised the king and his sister[39] to conceive a child in order to disqualify any claims saying; "the chiefs would not dare urge your grandniece as your possible successor!"

[38] Boki was held in high esteem by American and English consuls and felt encouraged in quartering soldiers, including some foreign white settlers, guns and ammunitions in Waikiki.

Boki admitted his jealousy of the queen's sway over Kamehameha III but was persuaded to end the dispute and return to his home peacefully.

A full list with one additional name was printed in 1847 by the Polynesian, the official government journal; Moses Kekuaiwa, Jane Loeau, Alexander Liholiho, Abigail Maheha, James Kaliokalani, Mary Paaaina, David Kalakaua, Lydia Kamakaeha, Lot Kamehameha, Bernice Pauahi, William C. Lunalilo, Elizabeth Kekaaniau, Peter Y. Kaeo, Emma Rooke, William Kinau Pitt, Victoria Kamamalu.

While her royal estates were filled with elegant palaces and mansions built for her family, she chose to live in a large traditional stone-raised grass house.

She hired businessmen such as Sam Parker and Rufus Anderson Lyman who were descended from Americans to help her adapt to the new rules for land ownership.

Instead of selling the land, she offered long-term leases, which encouraged settlers to start successful family farms, and gave her a secure income.

[49] When her last half-brother Kamehameha V died in 1872 leaving no heir to the throne, her controversial family background prevented her from being a serious contender to be monarch herself.

The young William Pitt Leleiohoku was named Crown prince, and history might have been very different if he had lived past 1877 and became a wealthy king.

Instead, the increased reliance of the royal family on the treasury and governmental pensions to fund their lavish expenses is generally considered one factor that led to the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893.

Her will had only one major bequest: to her cousin Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop the elaborate mansion, Keōua Hale on Emma Street in Honolulu, as well as approximately 353,000 acres (1,430 km2) of Kamehameha lands.

Standing at 6 ft 2 in, he was considered rather handsome by many including foreign visitors such as Lady Franklin and her niece Sophia Cracroft.

[61][62]: 105 Her adopted son, called Leleiohoku II after her first husband, was born January 10, 1854, became Crown Prince of Hawaii, but died April 9, 1877, when only 23 years old.

On the death of her adopted son, she demanded that Kalākaua and his family relinquish all rights to the estates she had bequeathed their brother, and that they be returned to her by deed.

During her life Ruth was considered the wealthiest woman in the islands,[63] owning a considerable amount of land inherited from Kamehameha V[64] and her first husband Leleiohoku I.