Lalla Salma | |
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Princess consort of Morocco | |
Tenure | 21 March 2002 – present |
Born | Fes, Morocco | 10 May 1978
Spouse | |
Father | Hajj Abdelhamid Bennani |
Mother | Khadija Bensouda |
Religion | Sunni Islam |
Royal family of Morocco |
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Princess Lalla Salma born Salma Bennani; (Arabic: سلمى بناني, Amazigh: ⵍⴰⵍⵍⴰ ⵙⵍⵎⴰ;10 May 1978, Fes) is the princess consort of Morocco. She is the wife of King Mohammed VI and the first wife of a Moroccan ruler to have been publicly acknowledged and given a royal title.[1]
She was born Salma Bennani in Fes to a middle class family.[2]
Her parents were Hajj Abdelhamid Bennani, a schoolteacher,[3] and Khadija Bensouda,[3] 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.[3] 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).
Salma married King Mohammed VI on 12 October 2001 (the sadaq or proclamation of marriage) and on 21 March 2002 (the zafaf or celebration of marriage), at the Dar al-Makhzin, Rabat, and was granted the title of Princess Lalla, with the style of Royal Highness on her marriage.[3]
The royal couple have two children:[4]
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.[5]
Salma has represented the King and Morocco in meetings and gatherings in Thailand, Japan, Israel and France. On 29 April 2011, she attended the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton.[6] She also attended the wedding of Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy in 2012. In April 2013, Salma attended the inauguration of the new Dutch King Willem-Alexander in Amsterdam. [citation needed]
She founded a cancer prevention association in Morocco[7] and has been involved in HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa. She visited Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.
Family of Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco |
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Styles of Princess Salma of Morocco | |
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Reference style | Her Royal Highness |
Spoken style | Your Royal Highness |
Lalla Salma is styled as Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Salma.
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.
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