Princess

Princess is the title given to the supreme leader of the Principality of the Pillow Fortress, being the head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. It is a hereditary title bestowed through matrilineal primogeniture.

Legitimacy

The legitimacy of the Fortressian monarchy stems from it having been established at the same time as the founding of the Principality. The Princess and the Pillow Fortress are inseparable, and no further justifications are necessary beyond the statement of fact "this is how it is." Codification, not creation, of the Fortressian monarchy came with the State Charter, making explicit and permanent the state of affairs which had existed since founding.

Powers and Qualifications

Powers

The fundamental duty of the Princess is to fulfill her promises as laid out in the State Charter. The government exists as a means to this end, and as such, at this highest level of Fortressian law, the Princess really only has two powers, those being the ability to disband a government which fails to successfully fulfill her promises, and to establish a new government which will successfully fulfill her promises.

The majority of the Princess's powers, as well as her roles as head of government and commander-in-chief are granted by the Constitution (the Charter grants her the role of head of state). They include the powers to:

grant titles of nobility
engage in diplomatic relations with foreign states and organizations
dismiss the Directory, either collectively or as individual advisory councils, and call new elections
collect taxes
issue letters of marque and reprisal
issue royal decrees
empower individuals and organizations within the Throne to exercise her powers in her name and on her behalf

Qualifications and Removal

The Princess, though having far more real power and authority than other constitutional monarchs, is not a dictator. The State Charter simply says that there must be a Princess, while the Constitution decides both what it means to be Princess and also under what circumstances a Princess may be removed from power. In order to assume the throne as Princess, one must:

identify as female
be nineteen years of age or older
be of sound mind and body
be a citizen of the Principality
renounce any and all titles of nobility [...] granted by foreign states prior to [...] assuming the throne
resign any position of power or prestige within any foreign governments
be the legally designated heir to the throne as per the order of succession.

Should the heir apparent, otherwise known by the official title Dauphine, not meet all of the above criteria (typically because she hasn't come of age), a temporary regency is established until such time as she is able to assume the throne.

The circumstances in which a Princess may be removed from power are few in number, but potentially broad in scope within their domains. The goal is to not bog the Princess down with technicalities that can be used to lessen her day-to-day power and thus turn her into a "ceremonial" head of state while also leaving in place a serious check on abuses of power. The Princess may be removed if she has:

committed an overt and explicit act that any reasonable observer would conclude is likely to result in the imminent destruction of the Principality
become permanently incapacitated
has voluntarily and without undue influence chosen to abdicate
been found to have assumed the throne fraudulently or under false pretenses
no longer has all the qualities of a Princess
failed to fulfill her promises as per Articles IV and V of the State Charter

It's the Directory which may bring a case for removal to trial in the Xeer where the Princess has an opportunity to defend herself. If she does not wish to defend herself against the accusations that she is unfit, she can be removed without a trial. This is essentially abdication.

First Princess

First Princess is a special form of Princess granted to the founder of the Principality by the State Charter. It carries all the same powers as that of Princess with two additional, those being the ability to modify the State Charter and to not be subject to removal by the government. First Princess is not an inheritable title, and will become extinct upon the death, abdication, or permanent incapacitation of its one and only holder, Julia Platz-Halter, with all subsequent rulers of the Pillow Fortress having the title Princess.

Libertine Party Secretary

The reigning Princess is also always the Secretary of the Libertine Party. In this capacity she is the Party's leader and highest authority. As being both the day-to-day head of the government and its sole legal political party is taxing, it's expected that the Princess will delegate most of her power within the Party to that of the Deputy Party Secretary, however this isn't strictly necessary, and even if she chooses to do so, which specific powers are delegated and to what degree are at the sole discretion of the Princess, and can be taken back in full at any time for any reason, subject to oversight from no one. Just as the Princess serves as a check on the power of the government and as a means to maintain the Principality's course, so too does she have this same function within the Party.

As Client States' Head of State

The reigning Princess also serves as the head of state of any client states which the Pillow Fortress may have. This role is different to her role as head of state of the Principality in several respects, chiefly in that it only extends to the position of head of state. Client states retain their existing governments (subject to oversight from the Department of Territory) when they join with the Principality, subject to only those changes which are negotiated prior to the alliance. Creating a head of state position separate from that of the head of government which is to be occupied by the Princess is one such change and the only change which is mandatory for any client state to accept. As with her other powers, the Princess may delegate this role, which is largely ceremonial, to a representative of her choosing.

Being the head of state of a client state does not violate the Princess's necessary obligation to "...resign any position of power or prestige within any foreign governments..." for two reasons. First, client states are, while not technically a part of the Pillow Fortress in the sense of having the same laws and government, they are a part of the Pillow Fortress in the sense that they have entered into a permanent state of subordination to it. Client states are not foreign entities, they are domestic-foreign entities. Second, the requirement that the Princess "...resign any position of power or prestige within any foreign governments..." is only a necessary condition for becoming the Princess. The titles associated with being the head of state of the various client states are bestowed at the same time as that of Princess as a function of that title.