Prince Lota Kapuāiwa Kalanimakua Aliʻiōlani Kalanikupuapaʻīkalaninui was named after his great grandfather Kalanikupuapaʻīkalaninui Keōua and was the son of Princess Kinaʻu (daughter of Kamehameha I) & Chief

Mataio Kekūanāoʻa.

Born on December 11, 1830 the king was officially claimed eligible to the throne by His Majesty King Kamehameha III.

 

Prince Lot ascended the throne after his younger brother, King Kamehameha IV on November 30, 1863, taking the title of H.M.  Kamehameha V.   He was known as the bachelor king, and loved to ride on his horse. The king did not believe in rude drunkeness and defeated a proposal to allow the sale of alcohol in the islands.

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H.M. King Kamehameha V quotes:

"I will never sign the death warrant of my people"

 

The King reigned for 9 years before illness took to him. On his death bed, he summoned Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop to become Queen, but she declined, the king also asked Princess Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau, but she also declined at the time. Other names were offered such as Dowager Queen Emma, but the king died a short time after without naming an heir or successor on December 11, 1872, his 42nd birthday.

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This enabled the Constitutional law to elect one of the 16 royal house members of the highest rank who were Eligible to Rule and Pre-emptive to the throne, attending the Royal Family Boarding School (a.k.a. Chiefs Children's School/Royal School). The election was largely won in 1873 by High Chief Prince William Charles Lunalilo, grandson of Kalaimamahu, a brother of King Kamehameha the Great.