Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Lalla Salma |
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Lalla Salma in 2012
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| Princess consort of Morocco | |
| Tenure | 12 July 2002 – c. March 2018 |
| Born | Salma Bennani 10 May 1978 Fez, Morocco |
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| Father | Abdelhamid Bennani |
| Mother | Naïma Bensouda |
Princess Lalla Salma (born Salma Bennani, Arabic: سلمى بناني, romanized: Salmā Bannānī, born 10 May 1978) is the former wife of Mohammed VI of Morocco. They married in 2002. She became the first wife of a Moroccan ruler to be publicly known and given a special title. She was last seen in public in December 2017. Reports in 2018 stated that she and Mohammed VI had divorced.
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Early Life and Education
Salma Bennani was born in Fez, Morocco, on 10 May 1978. She came from a regular family. Her father, Abdelhamid Bennani, was a university teacher. Her mother, Naïma Bensouda, passed away in 1981 when Salma was three years old. After that, Salma and her sister Meriem were raised in Rabat by their grandmother, Fatma Abdellaoui Maâne.
She went to school in Rabat. She finished high school at Lycée Hassan II. Then, she studied mathematics at Lycée Moulay Youssef. She later earned an engineering degree from the Advanced School for Communications and System Analysis. After finishing her computer engineering studies in 2000, she worked for a few months. She was an information services engineer at ONA Group, a large private company in Morocco.
Princess Lalla Salma speaks Arabic and French very well. She also learned to speak Spanish.
Marriage and Family
Lalla Salma became engaged to King Mohammed VI on 12 October 2001. They first met at a private party in 1999. Their first wedding ceremony, called the sadaq, happened on 21 March 2002. The main wedding celebration, known as the zafaf, took place on 12 and 13 July 2002. This celebration was held at Dar al-Makhzen, the main Royal palace in Rabat.
Her marriage was very important because it was public. Before this, the wives of Moroccan rulers were usually not seen in public. They were known only as the "mother of the princes." Lalla Salma was the first wife of a Moroccan ruler to officially be given a title: "Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Salma." She also came from a regular family, not a powerful royal family. This was different from past royal marriages.
Royal Children
Princess Lalla Salma and King Mohammed VI have two children:
| Name | Date of Birth | Place of Birth |
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| Crown Prince Moulay Hassan | 8 May 2003 | Dar al-Makhzen, Rabat, Morocco |
| Princess Lalla Khadija | 28 February 2007 | Dar al-Makhzen, Rabat, Morocco |
Public Activities
Lalla Salma had a more public role than previous princesses. From 2005 to 2019, she was the president of the Lalla Salma Foundation for Cancer Prevention and Treatment. This foundation was started in September 2005. It also worked to prevent HIV/AIDS in Africa. Princess Lalla Salma also led the yearly celebration of World No Tobacco Day. During this event, the Foundation shared the success of its "Tobacco-Free Colleges and High Schools" program. This program began in November 2007.
In 2006, Princess Lalla Salma was named a Goodwill Ambassador for the World Health Organization. This role focused on cancer care, promotion, and prevention. Besides her work with cancer and HIV/AIDS, she also supported and encouraged women's empowerment.
From 2004 until her divorce in 2018, she opened the Fez Sacred Music Festival each year. This event was supported by King Mohammed VI.
Princess Lalla Salma represented the King and Morocco at meetings in several countries. These included 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, in 2012. In 2013, she was present at the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander.
In May 2017, a mosque was built in her honor in Fez. It was named the "Mosque H.R.H. Princess Lalla Salma." This mosque can hold more than 3,000 people.
She was the first wife of a Moroccan king to appear on the cover of a Moroccan lifestyle magazine. She also posed for the cover of the French magazine Paris Match.
Divorce and Later Life
At the start of 2018, people noticed that Princess Lalla Salma was not appearing in the media. Her last public appearance was in December 2017.
In 2018, news reports from Spain and Italy said that Lalla Salma had asked for a divorce. She had already left her husband before he went to the hospital in February 2018. This explained why she was not with the king after his heart surgery. The media also reported that she had moved from the Dar Es Salam palace in Rabat to another home in the city. On 21 March 2018, the magazine ¡Hola! reported that the princess and the king had divorced. It also said that the children would stay with the king. While not officially announced, sources close to the palace confirmed the divorce.
After her divorce, Lalla Salma stayed in Morocco. She did not move to France or Greece, as some rumors suggested. Staying close to her children was very important to her. She lived in a residential area of Rabat and visited the palace regularly to see her children.
In 2019, the King of Morocco's lawyer, Éric Dupond-Moretti, referred to Lalla Salma as the "ex-wife." This statement unofficially confirmed the royal couple's divorce.
In January 2025, the magazine Gala reported that Lalla Salma now has custody of her children. She was also allowed to return to the Dar Es Salam palace to live there with her children.
Honours and Awards
Princess Lalla Salma has received several honours:
Spain: Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (2005).
Senegal: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (2008).
WHO: Gold Medal of the World Health Organization (2017).
Belgium: Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II.
See also
In Spanish: Lalla Salma para niños
