The Royal House of Hawai'i – Ka Hale Ali'i O Hoapili Baker (Hawaiian translation for The Royal House of Hoapili Baker) is comprised of the Royal and Ali'i Hoapili Baker Family of Hawai'i. The royal surname of Hoapili Baker is readily associated with the last sovereign dynasty of the Kingdom of Hawai'i because of a High Ali'i of Royal birth, Prince Robert Hoapili Baker I, a prominent figure who lived during the lifetime of his cousins, King David Kalākaua and Queen Lydia Lili'u'okalani, and contributed significantly to the Kingdom of Hawai'i.
In Hawaiian nomenclature, the term "Ali'i" is the nearest and only equivalent for the European term, "Royal", however the Hawaiian term "Ali'i" was and is used in reference to various ranks of Ali'i leadership before and during the unification of the Hawaiian Islands into one Kingdom. For this reason, the Hoapili Baker Family prefers to be explicit in the definitive use of both terms "Royal" and "Ali'i", because the Hoapili Baker Family descend also from Royal lineages, that is to say, directly from ancestors who ruled during the final dynasty of Hawaiian Kingdom timelines, as corresponds to the European term of "Royal". Although the Royal Hoapili Baker Family have a long Ali'i lineage that is officially traced to the first recognized Mo'ī (the nearest equivalents in Hawaiian being, King, or Ruling Chief or Ruling Leader) of the Hawaiian Islands, Līloa of the island of Hawai'i, the dual surname Hoapili Baker originates from Prince Robert Hoapili Baker I. He was the eldest child of the Royal Prince Ikekeleaiku of the Royal Court of Kamakahelei, and High Ali'i Chiefess Maliekaihilani (aka Malie Kaikilani) Napu'upahoehoe, who, after the death of the Royal Prince Ikekeleaiku, later remarried a royally honored Captain of Oceanian waters named Adam C. Baker. Prince Robert Hoapili Baker I was the blood cousin appointed as primary royal aide-de-camp of King David Kalākaua, and his grandmother was the regnant Queen Kamakahelei of the independent kingdom of Kaua'i and Ni'ihau prior to the complete unification of the Hawaiian Islands.
Ikekele'aiku and Kaumuali'i were half-brothers through their Royal mother in common, Queen Regnant Kamakahelei of Kaua'i and Ni'ihau. From his birth in 1847, the eldest child and son of the Royal Prince Ikekele'aiku and High Ali'i Malie Kaikilani Napu'upahoehoe, Kekaipuka'ala Hoapili (christened with the first name Robert, and therefore known as Robert Hoapili), held the distinction of Prince. In his obituaries and royal ceremonies, Robert Hoapili Baker is referred to as an Heir of Island Sovereigns, firstly, due to his proven blood relation to the last sovereign dynasty––the dynasty of King Kalākaua and his sister Queen Lili'uokalani––and secondly, to his family's blood relation to the Kamakahelei and Kamehameha Royal Dynasties.
High Ali'i Julia Kapi'olani, who later became Queen Consort to King David Kalākaua, was also Prince Robert's second cousin by blood, and a direct descendant (great-granddaughter) of Queen Kamakahelei.
Along with the notable historical attribution of being asked by his cousin King David Kalākaua to pose for the famous, commissioned statue of King Kamehameha I (an honor which he shared with his step-brother–and cousin– H.E. John Tamatoa Baker), Prince Robert Hoapili Baker was also marked in history as having been King Kalākaua's trusted advisor and is notable for legislating the king's progressive vision of the Hawaiian Youths Abroad Program, and the only family member with King Kalākaua during the voyage which accompanied the king's body back to Honolulu. Prince Robert Hoapili Baker was honored with the place of leading the procession and carrying King Kalākaua's crown and scepter from the 'Iolani Palace to Mauna 'Ala (the Royal Mausoleum) during the funeral march, indicating his familial status and importance to the Crown. His rank in the Royal Family of the last sovereign dynasty of Hawai'i, as following the line of his cousin, the Primary Sovereign, King Kalākaua, was most explicit when he honored international Royal ceremonial protocol by carrying the king's crown.
Along with many historical pre-unification ali'i lineages across the islands, the Hoapili Baker Family also have multiple royal ancestral lineages. The Hoapili Baker Family's multiple lineages of the rank of Royal heritage include:
• the last reigning sovereign dynasty of the unified Kingdom of Hawai'i, the Royal Kalākaua dynasty, by which the High Ali'i Hoapili Baker Family are legitimately of contemporary Royal rank, as Prince Robert Hoapili Baker I was cousin to the Primary Sovereign, King David Kalākaua, and his sister Queen Lydia Lili'uokalani, and the highest ranking Royal Ali'i in his time after the Primary Sovereign.
• the longest reigning independent sovereign kingdom of Kaua'i and Ni'ihau, the royal dynasty of the court of Queen Kamakahelei, from whom the Royal Hoapili Baker Family share descendance with their Kawananakoa cousins. The Kawananakoa family descend from the sister of the Queen Consort, Julia Kapi'olani, whose name was Victoria Kūhiō Kinoiki Kekaulike II, a High Ali'i (High Chiefess) who was known by Kekaulike II. Kekaulike II had three sons, the oldest was Edward Keli'iahonui, the second was David Kawananakoa, and the youngest was Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole, known as the Pi'ikoi Brothers, who, after their parents died, were adopted by Kekaulike II's surviving sisters, Kapi'olani and Po'omaikalani. The three Pi'ikoi Brothers were not born as Princes but the accurate distinction of the ali'i rank that they were granted was the honorary stylization of H.H. by their uncle by marriage, King Kalākaua. (It was the king's niece--the daughter of his youngest sister, Princess Miriam Likelike - H.R.H. the Princess Victoria Ka'iulani, who was appointed the rank of the Crown Heir, being the blood relative of the Primary Sovereign, King Kalakaua).
The House of Kawananakoa is the other surviving ali'i family of Hawai'i associated with the last sovereign dynasty of the kingdom. Given that they constitute the descendants of the nephews of the Queen Consort, Julia Kapi'olani, the House of Kawananakoa is in the position of the side of the Consort.
• the first royal dynasty of the unified Kingdom of Hawai'i, the Kamehameha Dynasty;
• and a close blood relation to the Royal dynasties of Tahiti intersecting at the remote and sacred Tahitian island of Maupiti.