In 1823 Liholiho, Kamehameha II, the 2nd King of unified Hawaii, chartered a boat and set off for England, along with his wife, Queen Kamamalu, and a party of other Hawaiian nobles. Can you imagine how daring and adventurous this was? Liholiho was born in the 18th century, when Hawaii was just beginning to have contact with the West.  His exact birth date is not even recorded, and he barely spoke English.  Sea travel was still a long, arduous, and dangerous endeavor.  And yet Liholiho was determined to go; to see and understand the world that was beginning to to have such an effect on his kingdom. He and his entourage set off in the  L’Aigle, stopping in Brazil to meet Emperor Pedro I, and arriving in London in May 1824.  Liholiho and Kamamalu were welcomed by the Foreign Secretary, had balls and receptions thrown in their honour, and toured all of London’s top sites. Everywhere they went they caused a stir; travel was still so difficult that foreign royalty were still a huge novelty, …