Fez Awaits Royal Visit

Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla arrived Monday in Rabat, Morocco, for a three-day official visit. The couple, visiting at the invitation of King Mohammed VI, were met on landing by the king's younger brother Prince Moulay Rachid, Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi and other cabinet members.

The royal pair will be hosted by Mohammed VI in Rabat, after which they will travel to Errachidia in the south of the country to visit an anti-desertification project.

The Moroccan prime minister, Abbas El Fassi, said the Prince had arrived in the country while it was in the middle of a revolution. He said: "This is a very big event for Morocco, for the King to have invited the Prince, and it will reaffirm the historic relationship between the two countries.

"This visit is a symbol because it comes at a moment of instability in many countries and the Prince, by visiting Morocco, is confirming that Morocco is a stable country."
Mr El-Fassi added: "There is a reshaping (of the political system). It's a revolution, a peaceful revolution."

During their tour today, TRH visited the 1st Brigade Infanterie Parachutiste, where they saw a number of peacekeeping training skills being taught in the classrooms there. Prince Charles is Colonel-In-Chief of the UK's Parachute Regiment and was wearing a regimental tie and badge on his lapel.

The visit ended with a display of 22 parachutists jumping from a plane at 800 metres and landing yards from where TRH were watching. They watched through binoculars and then clapped as each soldier handed. The first parachutists were carrying the British and Moroccan flags.

Photograph: Chris Jackson

Following the Royal party's visit to the mausoleum, where the Duchess covered her head with a scarf in keeping with Muslim tradition, the Duchess was treated to a private fashion show at the Villa des Arts cultural centre in Rabat. Three local designers showed off richly embroidered couture kaftans before the Duchess posed for pictures with the nine models wearing the dresses.on

The couple ended the day with an audience and private dinner with King Mohammed VI at the Palais Dar Salam in Rabat.

Then, tomorrow, it is on to Fez. The schedule in Fez is surprisingly relaxed with much of the security being particularly low-key. Hopefully, The View from Fez will be able to report on a couple of the engagements.

We understand that the "Camilla Watchers" will be out in force !

Moroccan Caftans - A Royal Parade

Moroccan caftans (kaftans) are closely watched by the fashion industry around the world and now a new wave of both male and female designers are taking things a step further. As one male designer says "I am liberating Moroccan women with my designs". The old values are changing - gone are the full length dresses and the covered bust. New daring designs are making an entrance and it will be interesting to see how they are accepted.

Here is a recent compilation of Royal Caftans!

Morocco's Royal family in Fez

Photographing Princess Lalla Salma's arrival at the opening of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music is restricted. However, there are official photographers, and The View from Fez is delighted to bring you photographs of the event.

The Princess was accompanied to the Festival by Bernadette Chirac, the former first lady of France (on the left), and Princess Norodom Bhopa Devi of Cambodia, sister to the king of Cambodia and choreographer of the Royal Cambodian Ballet who performed on the opening night.

Princess Lalla Salma greets Nadia Benjelloun, Director of the Fez Encounters

OPENING OF JNAN SBIL GARDENS

In other Moroccan royal news, Princess Lalla Hasnae (sister to HM King Mohamed VI) opened the Jnan Sbil gardens in Fez on Monday.

The people of Fez have long awaited the opening of these gardens on the edge of the medina, which have been closed for renovation for several years.

Princess Lalla Hasnae is President of the Mohamed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment. Accompanied by several government ministers and local officials including the Wali of Fez, Mohamed Rharrabi, the Princess cut the ribbon and then toured the gardens with children from various local schools.

The View from Fez has, as yet, been unable to establish opening times of the gardens, but will keep you posted.

King and Queen of Jordan visit Fez

No strangers to Fez, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Queen Rania were in Fez this weekend on a private visit.


Accompanied by the King's uncle, Prince Talal and his wife Princess Ghaida, the royal party arrived in Fez on Sunday afternoon and were greeted by King Mohammed VI, Princess Lalla Salma and their son Moulay Hassan.

Private visits such as this one give an opportunity for the two monarchs to discuss the close cooperation between the two kingdoms and to forge a common Arab stance on various issues. They also talked about current events and how to bring peace to the Middle East.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri told the press on Friday that Amman and Rabat had a clear vision about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The creation of a Palestinian state is the solution to the crisis in the Middle East," he said. "It is futile to seek other alternatives."

He said both countries backed Egyptian efforts to mediate a lasting truce between Israel and Hamas in and around Gaza.

King Abdullah and Queen Rania were the guests of honour at a dinner held by the Moroccan royals. Today the Jordanian King and Queen are off on an official state visit to Portugal.

HRH Queen Rania of Jordan at the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, 2007

(photo: Sandy McCutcheon)

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Morocco's Princess Lalla Salma

Princess Lalla Salma -
(photo: Sandy McCutcheon)

One of the most frequent phrases that our visitors search for is "Princess Lalla Salma". So we decided to bring our favourite photographs from The View from Fez archives and put them all in one place.

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.

More on Princess Lalla Salma click here


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Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

The Moroccan royal baby.

Maybe it is hard for non-Moroccans to understand the excitement caused by the birth of princess Lalla Khadija. Few events seem to capture almost all Moroccans with such excitement and people here are openly expressing their joy. For cynical, republican minded, foreigners it does come as a surprise. Within days of the birth people would stop me in the Medina to show me a phot of the princess that they had stored on their mobile phone.

In Fez last night there was a concert and throughout the length and breadth of Morocco musicians have been taking to the streets with drums and trumpets.


On Wednesday, King Mohammed VI, accompanied by crown prince Moulay El Hassan, Prince Moulay Rachid and Prince Moulay Ismail, held the traditional Laakika ceremony to celebrate the birth of princess Lalla Khadija.

The traditional ceremony, known in Morocco as Laakika - celebrated at the seventh day following the birth- started with the ritual immolation of two sheep, invoking God the Almighty and consecrating the name given to the baby.

According to the tradition of the Moroccan Royal Palace, the honour of immolating the first sheep was given to the Minister of Justice Mohamed Bouzoubaa, while the King's Chamberlain Brahim Frej, immolated the second.

Princess Lalla Khadija is the second child of King Mohammed VI and Princess Lalla Salma and was born on February 28 at the Royal Palace in Rabat. On this occasion, the sovereign VI granted a pardon to 8,836 prison inmates, and decided to commute the sentences rendered against another 24,218 prisoners.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Royal baby in the Spring?

According to the "Celebrity Baby Blog" ...King Mohammed VI, 43, and his wife, Princess Lalla Salma, 28, are expecting their second child in Spring next year. The couple married in 2002 and have one child, Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, who is 3 1/2.

Tags: Morocco Fes, Maghreb news