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Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco

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Princess Lalla Salma (born Salma Bennani, Arabic: سلمى بناني, 10 May 1977)[4][5] is the former wife of Mohammed VI of Morocco. They married in 2002, and she became the first wife of a Moroccan ruler to have been publicly acknowledged.[6] She was last seen in an official capacity in December 2017,[7][8] and it was later on reported, in 2018, that she and Mohammed VI had divorced.[1][2][9]

Lalla Salma
Lalla Salma aged 34
Lalla Salma in 2012
Princess consort of Morocco
Tenure12 July 2002 – c. March 2018
BornSalma Bennani
(1977-05-10) 10 May 1977 (age 47)
Fez, Morocco
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2002; div. 2018)​
[1][2]
Issue
FatherAbdelhamid Bennani
MotherNaïma Bensouda[3]
ReligionSunni Islam

Early life and education

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She was born as Salma Bennani in Fez.[4] Her father is Abdelhamid Bennani, a university teacher who taught at l'École normale supérieure de Fès[10] and her mother is Naïma Bensouda,[11] who died in 1981 when Salma was three years old. From then on, she and her sister Meryem were raised by her maternal grandmother, Fatma Abdellaoui Maâne. She lived in Rabat, with her half cousin Saira, and the two are commonly seen together in public.

She was educated in Rabat, where she attended a private school, Lycée Hassan II, Lycée Moulay Youssef, and the École nationale supérieure d'informatique et d'analyse des systèmes [fr]. After completing her engineering studies, she worked for a few months as an information services engineer at ONA Group, the country's largest private holding company (which is also controlled by the Moroccan royal family).

She is fluent in Arabic and French, and also speaks Spanish, which she learned later on.[12]

Marriage and children

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Lalla Salma became engaged to King Mohammed VI, whom she first met during a private party in 1999, on 12 October 2001.[5] Their first wedding ceremony, the sadaq ceremony (or proclamation of marriage) took place on 20 March 2002; and the zafaf (or celebration of marriage) took place on 12 and 13 July 2002[13] at Dar al-Makhzen (the principal Royal palace) in Rabat.[14]

The couple's divorce was unofficially communicated on 21 March 2018[15] and Lalla Salma stopped carrying out public official engagements then. Since her divorce, she occasionally took on engagements in a private capacity,[1][2] and was last seen attending one in 2021.[16]

Issue

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Name Date of birth Place of birth Age
Crown Prince Moulay Hassan (2003-05-08)8 May 2003 Dar al-Makhzen, Rabat, Morocco 21
Princess Lalla Khadija (2007-02-28)28 February 2007 Dar al-Makhzen, Rabat, Morocco 17

Activities and tributes

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Lalla Salma kept quite a low profile as Princess of Morocco, although a more public one than her predecessors. She supports cancer associations and the Fez Sacred Music Festival.

Lalla Salma represented the King and Morocco in meetings and gatherings in Saudi Arabia, Japan, Thailand, Palestine, Tunisia and France. On 29 April 2011, she attended the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton. She also attended the wedding of Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy in 2012 and 2013 inauguration of King Willem-Alexander.[citation needed]

In January 2005, the Spanish government elevated her to the rank of Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic.[17] In September 2005, Lalla Salma founded a cancer prevention association in Morocco.[18] She created the Lalla Salma Foundation – Prevention and Treatment of Cancer and has also been involved in HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa. In 2006, Princess Lalla Salma was named a Goodwill Ambassador of the World Health Organization for the Cancer Care, Promotion and Prevention. Besides being involved in cancer and HIV/AIDS prevention, she also supports and encourages women's empowerment.[19]

In May 2017, the "Mosque H.R.H. Princess Lalla Salma"[20] was built in her honor and inaugurated in Fez. Built on Al Mizane Square, the mosque has a capacity of more than 3,000 worshippers.[21][20]

Honours

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Owen-Jones, Juliette (21 July 2019). "King Mohammed VI, Ex-Wife Lalla Salma Deny Rumors of Custody Conflict". Morocco World News. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Diallo, Abubakr (22 June 2022). "Les Marocains condamnés à définitivement oublier Lalla Salma ?" [Are Moroccans condemned to forget Lalla Salma for good?]. Afrik (in French). Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco turns 36: facts about the royal". HELLO!. 10 May 2014. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b "RWB" (in French). Reporters sans frontières (Morocco)/VSD. 7 March 2002. Archived from the original on 25 December 2003. Retrieved 28 August 2015. During March, His Majesty Mohammed VI will get married. The lucky winner, Salma Bennani, is a young woman of 25, native of Fez and from the upper middle class
  5. ^ a b "L'annonce du prochain mariage de Mohammed VI lève une hypothèque au Maroc". Le Monde.fr (in French). 15 October 2001. Retrieved 5 June 2022. The fiancée of Mohammed VI – younger than him by fourteen years – is said to be from Fez
  6. ^ McLaughlin, Chelsea (25 February 2019). "As Meghan and Harry tour Morocco, the mystery of its missing Princess looms in the background". Mamamia. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  7. ^ "'Vanished without a trace': Mystery of Morocco's 'ghost princess'". NZ Herald. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Where is Morocco's Princess Lalla Salma now?". South China Morning Post. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  9. ^ "'The Ghost Princess': Where has the First Lady of Morocco Disappeared?". Al Bawaba. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  10. ^ "Maroc : Lalla Salma, la princesse aux pieds nus – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  11. ^ Africa Analysis: The Fortnightly Bulletin on Financial and Political Trends. Africa Analysis Limited. 2001. p. 18. The government has announced the engagement of King Mohammed VI to Salma Bennani , the daughter of Hadj Abdelhamid Bennani and the late Naima Bensouda
  12. ^ "Le Marocain Elie Mamane dit tout sur sa rencontre avec Mohammed VI à Miami". Le 360 Français (in French). Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  13. ^ "King Mohamed VI of Morocco sits with his wife Princess Lalla Salma at..." Getty Images. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  14. ^ "King Mohammed VI of Morocco and Princess Lalla Salma divorce". HELLO!. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  15. ^ "King Mohammed VI of Morocco and wife Princess Lalla Salma divorce". HELLO!. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  16. ^ "PHOTOS - Lalla Salma du Maroc fait son grand retour !". Public.fr (in French). 9 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  17. ^ Chankou, Abdelkarim. "L'Espagne décore Mohammed VI et certains de ses proches collaborateurs". Lemag.ma.
  18. ^ "Lalla Salma Association Against Cancer". UICC. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012.
  19. ^ "HRH Princess Salma Bennani Biography". Arab Royal Family. Archived from the original on 30 January 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  20. ^ a b MATIN, LE. "Ahmed Toufiq : «La Mosquée S.A.R. la Princesse Lalla Salma, un nouvel édifice religieux construit selon les normes architecturales marocaines authentiques»". lematin.ma (in French). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  21. ^ "SM le Roi, Amir Al-Mouminine, inaugure à Fès la «Mosquée SAR la Princesse Lalla Salma» et y accomplit la prière du vendredi". Maroc.ma (in French). 19 May 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  22. ^ "Boletín Oficial del Estado" (PDF).
  23. ^ "Princess Lalla Salma Receives WHO Gold Medal". The North Africa Post. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
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