HRH Princess Owana Kaʻōhelelani is greeted by ​

Major General Mauro DʻUbaldi at the Royal Miltary Academy in Turin, Italy

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On May 17, 2022, H.R.H. Princess Owana Kaʻōhelelani, was greeted by Major General Mauro DʻUbaldi, GCRC and Lt. Col. Enrico Spinello, GORC at the Royal Military Academy in Turin, Italy.  Accompanying Her Royal Highness was H.E. David Kealiʻimaikaʻi Castro, GCRC, Eleanora Cochran, DCRC and Emanuela Borgnino, DCRC.

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The Royal Military Academy in Turin is where Princess Owana's great grandfather, the Honorable Robert W. Kalanihiapo Wilcox attended in 1881.  Robert Wilcox was selected by H.M. King Kalākaua to study at the Royal Military Academy in Turin, Italy, as part of the Education of Hawaiian Youths Abroad program. Wilcox was also elected in 1880 as Wailuku’s delegate to King Kalākaua’s Legislative Assembly.

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While in Italy, Wilcox met and married his first wife, Italian Baroness Gina Sobrero. Their ill-fated marriage would later be annulled by Pope Leo XIII.

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In the wake of the imposed Bayonet Constitution of 1887 by the Reform Party, monarchical powers were severely restricted and, among other things, the study abroad program was halted.  Wilcox was then ordered to return home and lead two patriotic attempts on behalf of his sovereign and countrymen. The first was to overthrow the Bayonet Constitution and the Reform Government in 1889. The second was to restore the deposed Queen Liliʻuokalani and the Hawaiian Government in 1895. For the latter attempt, Wilcox was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death, but was later pardoned.

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After his release from prison, Wilcox married Princess Theresa Owana Kaʻōhelelani of the Kamehameha Dynasty on August 20, 1896. Together they had a son, Prince Robert Kalanikupuapāʻikalaninui Wilcox, and a daughter, Princess Virginia Kahoa Kaʻahumanu Kaʻihikapumahana Wilcox.

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Robert Kalanihiapo Wilcox and his wife Princess Theresa owned and operated two Honolulu newspapers, the “Liberal” and the “Home Rula Repubalika,” written in English and Hawaiian.  Wilcox established the Home Rule Party (Hawaiian Independent Party) in 1900 in the interests of the Hawaiian people, and was elected as Hawaiʻi’s first Delegate to the U.S. Congress.

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Wilcox and his wife, Princess Theresa retired to their Punchbowl home where he passed away on October 23, 1903.  Honorable Robert Kalanihiapo Wilcox was regarded as a national hero because of his commitment to defend the independence of the Hawaiian people and the monarchy and a statue of Wilcox was erected and unveiled on September 11, 1993 in downtown Honolulu on King and Fort Street Mall.