Princess Lalla Salma -(photo: Sandy McCutcheon)
For the people of Fez the Princess Lalla Salma is a local and yet her fairytale story is as enthralling to them as it is to foreign "royal watchers". Earlier this year when word spread that the princess would chair the opening ceremony of the 14th Fez Festival of world sacred music, it was enough to bring throngs to the streets in hope of catching a glimpse of "The People's Princess".
Princess Lalla Salma was born in Fez, Morocco where to father was a primary school teacher. Her mother died when she was three years old from then on she was raised by her maternal grandmother.
Salma Bennani was educated in private and public schools in Rabat and obtaining a baccalaureate in 1995 with excellent grades in mathematics and sciences at Lycée Hassan II. Following the successful completion of a preparatory course at Lycée Moulay Youssef, Salma Bennani graduated in 2000 from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Informatique et d'Analyse des Systèmes. She received a degree in computer science and was her class valedictorian. After graduation, she worked in Casablanca as an information services engineer at the ONA Group, the country's largest private holding company, which is controlled by the Moroccan royal family.
Salma Bennani married King Mohammed VI on March 21, 2002, at the royal palace in Rabat. They have two children, Crown Prince Moulay Hassan (born May 8, 2003) and Princess Lalla Khadija (born February 28, 2007).
Unlike her predecessors Princess Lalla Salma has taken an active role in public life, hosting a number of visiting dignitaries and royalty. These have included Queen Rania of Jordan, Queen Sofía of Spain, Sheikha Mozah of Qatar, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway, Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, Princess Mathilde of Belgium or Princess Takamado of Japan. She also represented Morocco and her husband in meetings and gatherings abroad in Thailand, Japan and France. Her other work has involved founding a cancer prevention association in Morocco and HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa. Her most recent trip to Geneva Princess was in the role of goodwill ambassador and chairwoman of the Lalla Salma Association to Fight Cancer. She was attending a Leader's Summit on cancer.
In the last six years Princess Lalla Salma has made her mark as a gracious and dignified member of the Moroccan Royal family and one with a world class sense taste in fashion who can represent her country on the world stage.
3 comments:
Lovely images...including some new ones I have never seen.
She's a great asset to Morocco and I think she's the first female of the Royal Family to have been given a royal title. I particularly liked her devotion to her family by stepping aside from the spotlight to spend time with her children after the birth of Princess Lalla Khadija in February.
I wish all women were as balanced, secure in themselves and grounded as she is. She has not gone overboard and straightened her hair, had loads of plastic surgery or become a clothes horse. She's a true charmer; genuine, intelligent and practical. She is an icon for all women everywhere in the world. What a sparkling gem of a woman.
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