Records indicate that there may have been a written agreement of betrothal with Kawānanakoa, that was quickly aborted. An unsubstantiated announcement dated February 3, 1898, was printed in "The San Francisco Call" and later reprinted in newspapers across the United States. According to the report, the betrothal was dependent upon the finalization of deeds to a sizeable real estate holding, transferred from Queen Kapiʻolani to both Kawānanakoa and Kalanianaʻole. On February 19, a denial of betrothal from Kawānanakoa was printed in the newspapers. Kapiʻolani did deed all her property, real and personal, to the brothers on February 10, with the express stipulation that the documentation not be executed until she was ready. Kapiʻolani wanted to hold off the transfer until she was too old to manage the property herself, and/or otherwise would believe she was close to death. She last saw the document with her notary Carlos A. Long, with her instructions to have changes made in the wording. Instead, the brothers had the deed executed immediately, without her knowledge.