Princess Ka’iulani was born in 1875 to Hawaiian Princess Miriam Likelike and Scottish-born businessman Arthur Cleghorn, during the reign of her uncle King Kalakaua.

At birth she was given an estate in Waikiki where she grew up next door to Robert Louis Stevenson. When Princess Ka’iulani was 11 she lost her mother and a couple of years after that she was sent to England to get a British education. While there, in 1891, King Kalakaua passed away and the new monarch, the king’s sister Princess Lili’oukalani made Ka’iulani the heir apparent.

She wanted to return to home but was told to stay in England during a tumultuous time in Hawaii. When she finally came back in 1897 Queen Liliuokalani had been forced to abdicate. Princess Ka’iulani identified strongly with her homeland and became a fierce advocate for Hawaii. She spoke out against the pending annexation of Hawaii by the United States and fought to keep the Hawaiian Kingdom independent.

Her efforts were ultimately unsuccessful and Hawaii was annexed by the US in 1898. Having struggled with poor health during the 1890s the devastated Ka’iulani sadly died in 1899, only 23 years old.

Twenty eight years later, in 1927, a new hotel opened in Honolulu, a grand pink palace named the first resort hotel built in the US. Sometime during the 1920s they created a signature drink, a cocktail called Princess Ka’iulani as a tribute to the influential princess. The cocktail changed name in the 1950s and is since then sharing its name with the Royal Hawaiian Hotel but the legacy of Princess Ka’iulani lives on as a symbol of strength, grace, and the rich cultural heritage of Hawaii.

The glass is fittingly called Princess and was designed by Bent Severin in 1957.