- "The oath demands that the supreme governor uphold the sanctity of the royal seal unto death."
- ―Leia Organa
Supreme governor was a ceremonial hereditary title used by the government of Birren, a planet located in the Inner Rim. The title was bestowed upon members of the Elder Houses and held until death. Over two decades after the formation of the New Republic, Lady Carise Sindian inherited the title from the late Lord Mellowyn, with permission from the intended successor, Princess Leia Organa. However, it was quickly stripped from Sindian following her violation of the sanctity of the royal seal.
Description
- "The title is purely ceremonial now, isn't it? I can't imagine that the people of Birren are in any hurry to replace a figurehead governor."
- ―Leia Organa
The title of supreme governor was used by the government of the Inner Rim planet Birren. Bestowed through inheritance upon certain members of the Elder Houses—the collected hereditary royal families of the galaxy—the title was held until death. However, by the time of the New Republic, few people still took hereditary nobility seriously, and thus the title became considered largely ceremonial by the people and the government of Birren.[1]
The inauguration of the supreme governor was a lengthy process, involving multiple stages of rituals, such as oil anointment by the wardens of the sanctum. The ceremony concluded inside the Great Hall of Birren, where hundreds of Birrenese looked on as an Arbiter bestowed the intended governor with the symbolic tokens of leadership: a cloth-of-gold mantle and a scepter, to show that the governor would both shelter and defend the people of Birren.[1]
History
- "Well, the governorship passes down through the elder bloodlines. But as Lord Mellowyn had no children, the title has now passed to you."
- ―Lady Carise Sindan, to Leia Organa
Lord Mellowyn was the supreme governor of Birren up until his death twenty-four years after the formation of the New Republic. He was succeeded by Lady Carise Sindian with permission from the intended successor, Princess Leia Organa of the House of Organa, who felt the lengthy inauguration would get in the way of important Senate business. However, when Sindian broke the royal seal by exposing a private recording held within the Great Hall, revealing the Sith Lord Darth Vader to be Organa's biological father, she was stripped of all royal titles, including supreme governor.[1]
Behind the scenes
The title of supreme governor first appeared in the 2016 novel Bloodline, written by Claudia Gray.[1]