Princess Lalla Salma (born Salma Bennani (Arabic: ???? ??????, Amazigh: ????? ????); 10 May 1978) 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.
Video Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco
Early life and education
She was born Salma Bennani in Fes to a hardworking family.
Her parents were Hadj Abdelhamid Bennani, a schoolteacher, and Naïma Bensouda, 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.
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. 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).
Maps Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco
Marriage and children
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.
The royal couple have two children:
- Moulay Hassan, Crown Prince of Morocco (born 8 May 2003 in Rabat).
- Princess Lalla Khadija of Morocco (born 28 February 2007 in Rabat).
Royal role
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 Thailand, Japan, Israel 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.
She founded a cancer prevention association in Morocco and has been involved in HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa. She visited Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.
Ancestry
Titles, styles, and honours
Titles and styles
Lalla Salma is styled as Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Salma.
Honours
- Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II of Belgium (5 October 2004).
- Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic of Spain (14 January 2005).
- Dame Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit of Senegal (1 December 2008).
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia