According to my friend:
Is this true?
No. The US wasn’t involved with Hawaii in the Lincoln administration. The Queen you’re probably thinking of was Queen Liliuokalani, the last monarch of Hawaii, who became queen in 1891. She was overthrown in 1893 by a coup organized by a group of sugar planters and led by planter Sanford Dole and US Ambassador John Stevens, who then set up a republic.
She appealed to President Grover Cleveland, who basically said, “We’ll help you get the throne back as long as you offer an amnesty to everyone involved.” She refused, and the matter got turned over to the US Congress, who said that nobody did anything wrong and recognized the republic.
The Queen was Irish: Lilly O’Killarney.