I have just returned from a holiday to O'ahu, Hawaii; I naturally had to tour the 'Iolani Palace in Honolulu, the residence of the two last Hawaiian monarchs (King Kalākaua and Queen Lili'uokalani) and is the only royal palace on United States soil.
The palace is really nice, but is so much smaller than its European counterparts (I've also been to Schloss Schonbrun in Vienna, which is huge). A lot of the items and furniture from the palace is still missing - according to the tour guide, they have only recovered about 5,000 pieces which were listed on the palace inventory following the overthrow (which amounted to just over 10,000 pieces - 900 of them items of sationary
). I was surprised at how small the bedroom suites were - they are shorter than my bed (so the Hawaiian monarchs must have been quite short, or slept in the fetal position).
#1 - 'Iolani Palace front exterior
#2 - Centre tower of the Palace, the Hawaiian state flag is flying at half-mast on top of the tower in accordance with President Obama's order for all United States flags to be flown at half-mast in respect of the shootings in Tuscon, Arizona the previous Saturday (photo taken on the Tuesday after)
#3 - Detail work of the centre tower
#4 - Main entrance staircase
#5 - Right hand side of the Palace, this room on the first floor is the Throne Room
#6 - Centre of the Palace front exterior
#7 & 8 - Detail work of the centre tower
#9 - Right hand side of the Palace, second floor; this was Queen Lili'uokalani's bedroom suite, where she was imprisoned following the monarchy's overthrow (the bottom row of windows are a different, less clear glass - I assume that was so she could not see out of the windows during her imprisonment)
#10 - Front door, the two bottom panes are not the original glass (they had to be replaced following a vandalism attack several years ago) while the top two are
#11 - The Palace from the outside
#12 - Coronation Pavillion
#13 - Coronation Pavillion, with the Palace on the left
#14 - Royal Coat of Arms as seen on the Palace gates
#15 - Statue of Queen Lili'uokalani at the rear of the Palace, between the Palace and the State Capitol
#16 & 17 - Statue of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop