| Salma Bennani | |
|---|---|
| Princess Consort of Morocco | |
| Born | May 10, 1978 |
| Birthplace | Fes, Morocco |
| Consort | March 21, 2002 - present |
| Consort to | King Mohammed VI |
| Offspring | Crown Prince Moulay Hassan Princess Lalla Khadija |
| Royal House | Alaouite |
| Father | Al-Haj Abdel Hamid Bennani |
| Mother | Naima Bensouda |
Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco (Arabic: الأميرة للا سلمى), (born Salma Bennani; 10 May 1978 in Fes) is the princess consort of King Mohammed VI of Morocco and the first wife of a Moroccan ruler to have been publicly acknowledged and given a royal title.[1]
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Salma was born in Fes to al-Haj Abdel Hamid Bennani, a school teacher from Fes.[2] Her mother Naima, née Bensouda[2] died when she was three years old; from then on she and her sister were raised by her maternal grandmother. She lived in Rabat, with her cousin Saira, 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.[2] She met her husband during a private party in 1999. After completing her engineering studies, she worked for a few years between 1999 and 2002 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 (nikah) and on 21 March 2002 (zifaf), at the Dar al-Makhzin, Rabat, and was granted the personal title of Princess with the style of Her Royal Highness on her marriage.[2] They have two children:
Salma has kept quite a low profile as first lady of Morocco, although a more public one than her antecessors in the role, whom the citizens did not normally see. She has been supporting cancer associations and the Fez Sacred Music Festival.
On 29 April 2011, the day after the 2011 Marrakech bombing, she was at the wedding of Prince William of Wales and Catherine Middleton. Unlike the U.S., Moroccan news agency did not mention her presence at this ceremony.
Salma has also represented the King and Morocco in meetings and gatherings in Thailand, Japan and France. She also founded a cancer prevention association in Morocco[3] and has been involved in HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa work. Recently, she visited Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.
| Styles of Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco |
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| Coat of arms of Morocco.svg | |
| Reference style | Her Royal Highness |
| Spoken style | Your Royal Highness |
| Alternative style | Ma'am |