The Friends of Iolani Palace has received a $500,000 gift from Veronica Kawananakoa, wife and partner of 25 years of the late Princess Abigail Kawananakoa, to support the palace’s Basement Galleries Project.

The initial gift, from Veronica Kawananakoa’s personal funds, will establish the Kawananakoa Legacy Room as part of the project. A portion will be used to pay the palace’s electricity bill, which the princess subsidized for years.

Another portion of the gift is reserved to fund and seed a reserve study to identify possible maintenance and repair issues the palace will face in the future.

An additional personal gift of over $250,000 has been established by Veronica Kawananakoa through the Hawaii Community Foundation and is meant for Iolani Palace and other charitable purposes.

“We are incredibly grateful to Veronica Kawananakoa for her commitment to provide ongoing support for the palace in ways that have long been important to Princess Abigail Kawananakoa,” said Paula Akana, executive director for The Friends of Iolani Palace, in a statement. “Through these initial personal gifts … Princess Abigail Kawananakoa’s legacy and her commitment to Iolani Palace and Hawaiian culture will live on.”

Princess Abigail Kawananakoa died on Dec. 11 at the age of 96. She was the eldest granddaughter of Prince David Kawananakoa and the longtime president of The Friends of Iolani Palace, which was created by her mother to restore, protect and preserve the history of Iolani Palace.