Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco

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Salma
Princess Lalla Salma.jpg
Lalla Salma in 2012
Princess consort of Morocco
Tenure21 March 2002 – present
BornSalma Bennani
(1978-05-10) 10 May 1978 (age 43)
Fes, Morocco
Spouse
​
(m. 2002)​
Issue
FatherHadj Abdelhamid Bennani
MotherNaïma Bensouda
ReligionSunni Islam
Royal family of Morocco
Coat of arms of Morocco.svg

Princess Lalla Latifa

Princess Lalla Lamia

Princess Lalla Malika

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Lalla Salma (born Salma Bennani, Arabic: سلمى بناني‎, 10 May 1978) is the princess consort of Morocco. She is married to King Mohammed VI, and the first wife of a Moroccan ruler to have been publicly acknowledged and given a royal title.[1] Since she has not been seen by media since December 2017, it has been speculated that the couple are divorced.[2]

Early life and education[]

She was born Salma Bennani in Fes.[3]

Her parents were Hadj Abdelhamid Bennani, a schoolteacher,[citation needed] and Naïma Bensouda,[citation needed] who died in 1981, when Salma was three years old; from then on she and her sister Meryem were raised by her maternal grandmother, Hajja Fatma Abdellaoui Maâne. She lived in Rabat, with her half cousin Saira, and the two are commonly seen together in public.[1]

She was educated in Rabat, where she attended a private school, Lycée Hassan II, Lycée Moulay Youssef, and l'École Nationale Supérieure d'Informatique et d'Analyse de Systèmes.[citation needed] She met her husband during a private party in 1999. 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).

Marriage and children[]

Salma married King Mohammed VI on 20 March 2002 (the sadaq or proclamation of marriage) and on 21 March 2002 (the zafaf or celebration of marriage), at the Rabat Royal Palace, Rabat.

Issue[]

Name Date of birth Place of birth Age
Crown Prince Moulay Hassan (2003-05-08)8 May 2003 Royal Palace, Rabat, Morocco 18
Princess Lalla Khadija (2007-02-28)28 February 2007 Royal Palace, Rabat, Morocco 14

Activities[]

Lalla Salma has 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.

Salma has represented the King and Morocco in meetings and gatherings in Saudi Arabia, Japan, Thailand, Israel, 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.[4]

Princess Lalla Salma founded a cancer prevention association in Morocco.[5] She created the Lalla Salma Foundation – Prevention and Treatment of Cancer[4] and has also been involved in HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa.[4] In 2006, Princess Lalla Salma was named a Goodwill Ambassador of the World Health Organization for the Cancer Care, Promotion and Prevention.[4] Beside involved in cancer and HIV/AIDS prevention, she also supports and encourages women's empowerment.[6]

Honours[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Profile Archived 2 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine, nettyroyal.nl; retrieved 20 September 2014.
  2. ^ Brittani Barger (14 April 2018). "What's next for Princess Lalla Salma after rumoured divorce from the Moroccan King?".
  3. ^ "RWB" (in French). Reporters sans frontières (Morocco)/VSD. 7 March 2002. Archived from the original on 25 December 2003. Retrieved 28 August 2015. Tout le royaume bruisse de l'événement à venir. Courant mars, sa majesté Mohammed VI se mariera. L'heureuse élue, Salma Bennani, est une jeune femme de 25 ans, native de Fès et issue de la haute bourgeoisie.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Who is Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco?". royalcentral.co.uk. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  5. ^ "Lalla Salma Association Against Cancer". UICC. Archived 29 May 2012 at archive.today
  6. ^ "HRH Princess Salma Bennani Biography". Arab Royal Family.
  7. ^ "Boletín Oficial del Estado" (PDF).
  8. ^ "Princess Lalla Salma Receives WHO Gold Medal". The North Africa Post. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2018.

External links[]

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