Queen Emma's Summer Palace

We recently visited Queen Emma's Summer Palace in Honolulu. If you are expecting a "palace", you will be disappointed. It's a nice house but not particularly palatial. If you think of it as Queen Emma's Summer Cottage, you'll enjoy it more because it will meet your expectations.

Queen Emma was the wife of King Kamehameha IV. Their only child, Prince Albert, died at age four, and King Kamehameha IV died a year later. It's a sad story.

The home was used by the royal family in the mid-1800's. Today it holds artifacts from that time period. Some of the furnishings and memorabilia actually belonged to Queen Emma.

Unfortunately, no photography is allowed inside, so I didn't take any pictures. I did, however, find some images on the internet which I am copying here. Don't sue me, please. I did try to buy postcards in the gift shop, but they didn't have any.

This photo is of the parlor.

Queen Emma acquired this baby grand piano later in her life while traveling through Europe.

This was Queen Emma's bed which is made of koa wood. It stands next to Prince Albert's koa four poster crib which was made by master craftsman Wilhelm Fischer.

The three tiered sideboard was built in Berlin at the request of Prince Albert of England and given as a wedding gift to the Hawaiian royals. This is in the Edinburgh Room.

The cradle in this picture, also made by Wilhelm Fischer, was commissioned by the king and queen at the birth of Prince Albert and is regarded as a state treasure. It is hard to tell from this picture, but from the side it looked somewhat like a turtle shell.

At the bottom of the picture is a child's bathtub which was a gift of the Chinese emperor.

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