I have just read “Princess Ka’iulani of Hawai’i, the Monarchy’s Last Hope” by Kristin Zambucka.
A couple of things jumped out at me:
1. When the princess was living in Cambridge Rd, Phebe Rooke gave her a print for her birthday. “The Soul’s Awakening” This is by an English artist called James Sant (1820–1916). It is a portrait of the artist’s 13-year-old great niece, Annie Kathleen Rendle. In 1888, the painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, in London.
It’s a very sentimental subject matter, typical of that period, and it was apparently very popular and reproduced widely. I think it gives us a glimpse into the character of the 2 ladies – the princess and her landlady/tutor.
I have recently started working with the writer, Mark Wilson who is going to help me with the script for the film. He is concentrating on the relationship between these two women. It’s really exciting to start fleshing it out.
2. Another relationship that was important in the princess’ life was with Theo Davis who acted as her guardian while she studied in the UK. The princess often stayed with the family and it was Theo who encouraged her to travel to Washington to appeal to the American people and meet President Cleveland, in an attempt to stop the overthrow of her country.
Anyway, I noted in the book that Theo lived in the later part of his life in a house called Ravensdale in Tunbridge Wells and the princess spent quite a lot of time there. As I grew up in the town I was interested to know just where this was. A quick search on Google Maps reveals that Ravensdale was just round the corner from my old house, and I walked past it everyday on my way to school, nearly a hundred years later.
Funny that, I wonder if she crossed paths with any of my ancestors!