From 1893 until her death, rumors of whom Kaʻiulani would wed circulated in the American and Hawaiian press, and on one occasion she was pressured by Queen Liliʻuokalani to marry. When Clive Davies, son of Kaʻiulani's guardian Theo H. Davies, was a student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1893, he was rumored to be Kaʻiulani's fiancé. Although the princess had stayed with the family occasionally while she was in England, her father said there was no engagement between the two young people and the rumors were "absurd and preposterous". In spite of the denial, the rumors persisted for a time. However, Clive was engaged to Edith Fox, daughter of civil engineer Francis Fox, between 1896 and 1898 while he resided in Honolulu and handled his father's business. Another rumor, which circulated after Kaʻiulani's return to Hawaii, said she was to marry Clive's brother George Davies. Members of Kaʻiulani's household denied this.