You'd have to understand the history of Hawaiian civilization

Very few people know this unless you've lived in Hawaii and know something of its ancient past. You see aspects of the ancient royal Hawaiian culture alluded to in the beginning of this movie. That part of ancient royal Hawaiian history grated on the nerves and sensibilities of 19th century Americans, firm believers in democracy and antithecal to any kind of royalty.

What am I hinting at? The ancient Hawaiian culture was a strict, caste-conscious driven society, known as, the ali'i system. Ancient Hawaiian civilization comprised the nobility, consisting of the high chieftain class, the lower chieftain class (middle nobiility), and the rest of the Hawaiin population, the commoners. There was a strict divide between the nobility and the commoners. This kind of civilization was remotely similar to ancient Egypt. The nobility were endowed with many social, economic, and almost racial priviledges over the Hawaiian commoners. Infraction of any commoners against a member of the high ali'i was punishable typically by instant death.

You see some of this ancient Hawaiian royalty culture when Princess Kailuani expresses her almost snobbiness in the beginning minutes of the movie. It takes the greater arrogance of a white, middle-class British school mistress, Miss Barnes, to put Princess Kaiulani in her place. Later in the movie, Miss Barnes turns up at the Cleghorn estate (where Kaiulani is staying), now a widow, Mrs. Connelly, and unemployed, desperately seeking employment. The whole incident is poorly explained and played out. Miss Barnes/Mrs. Connelly, doesn't look like she's aged a day from her school mistress time. But Kaiulani gets up from the table to show sympathy for the rain-drenched and miserable-looking Mrs. Connelly. (On a side note, the actress for Miss Barnes, Catherine Steadman, for some inexplicable reason, comes off sexy as a stiff-necked, cold-hearted b***h school marm; the type that most guys want to take to bed).

The 19th century ruling Hawaiians saw much to admire and emulate in the British monarchy and its traditions. But this was anathema to the growing American missionary and commercial interests in the Hawaiian Kingdom. In the end, the growing tension between the pressure of the Americans seeking greater democracy in Hawaii versus the remaining Hawaiian monarchy who wished to retain the monarchy with some semblence of authority would lead not only to a clash of civilizations, but the eventual overthrow of the monarchy and the soon after annexation of Hawaii to the United States.