By Bob Krauss

Next Sunday, to celebrate Queen Lili'uokalani's birthday, the Friends of 'Iolani Palace will host "an accurate depiction of a turn-of-the-century lu'au which may have been held on the Palace grounds." It's an interesting historical exercise.

It's like sorting out what to believe about the life of Queen Lili'uokalani, separating distortions from the truth. So today let's give it a try, based on testimony from a living source as close as it's possible to get today.

We'll keep it simple: Try to picture the world in which the queen lived in, say, 1910. Our source is Queen Lili'uokalani Estate trustee David Peters, 80, a West Point graduate and former aide to Sen. Dan Inouye. His grandparents were tenants of the queen in Waikiki.

They lived across 'Ohua Avenue from the old St. Augustine's Church — the little wooden one with latticework for walls. The queen lived farther back on 'Ohua, with three or four retainers on an estate probably as large as a city block.

Peters said the queen lived modestly on small rentals from her property that extended mauka from Waikiki Beach to beyond the Kapahulu Library. He believes that his grandparents paid $25 a year in rent and that perhaps 100 families lived on the queen's land. Col. Curtis Iaukea collected the rent.

Peters' grandparents, Paul and Martha Akana, were not related to the queen, but probably came into her circle through a close family friend, Thelma Aea.

"Mrs. Aea had been a lady in waiting to the queen in monarchy days," Peters said. "She lived with my grandparents. He was Chinese, a cook on Maui for James McKee, the owner of 'Ulupalakua Ranch. I believe he and my grandmother, a Hawaiian, came to Waikiki when McKee moved there."

Peters said his grandparents lived behind a small store that was on Kalakaua Avenue. The lanai faced the beach, with a partial view of the ocean.

"The queen would stop at my grandmother's house to visit on her walks to the beach," said Peters. "She sat on the lanai in a special koa rocking chair reserved for her."

In 1910, Peters' mother would have been 6 years old. Her birthday was Nov. 2, the day before the queen's. "The queen loved children," said Peters. "Every year, she invited my mother to her birthday party in Waikiki."

Peters believes his grandmother had very little contact with tourists at the Moana Hotel. "She didn't have many social contacts, only daily Mass across the street at St. Augustine's," he said. "She was too busy cooking, doing laundry and watching over the kids."

She probably wore a loose mu'umu'u at home, as did the queen. Men wore long-sleeved shirts and trousers called "selamoku," sailor clothes — light-blue heavy-duty shirts and dark-blue heavy cotton pants.

Besides Lili'uokalani, Peters said, his mother knew Chinn Ho, who grew up on a duck farm on the other end of Waikiki, at Kalakaua and Kapahulu. He later became a colorful financier.