Lalla Latifa

Lalla Latifa
Mother of the Princes
Spouse Hassan II (1961-1999)
Mohamed Mediouri
Issue Princess Lalla Meryem
King Mohammed VI
Princess Lalla Asma
Princess Lalla Hasna
Prince Moulay Rachid
Full name
Fatima Amahzoune
Born 1945 (age 6970) or 1946 (age 6869)
near Khenifra, Morocco
Religion Islam
Moroccan Royal Family


HH Princess Lalla Latifa


HRH Princess Lalla Lamia


HRH Princess Lalla Malika


Princess Lalla Latifa Amahzoune[1] (Arabic: لالة لطيفة أمحزون born 1945 or 1946) in Khenifra is the widow of King Hassan II and the mother of Princess Lalla Meryem, King Mohammed VI, Princess Lalla Asma, Princess Lalla Hasna and Prince Moulay Rachid.[2][3] She is referred to using terms such as "mother of the royal children".[4] The privacy accorded to her in Morocco is so great that attempts to publish photos of her in the Moroccan newspaper Al Ayam were found to violate Moroccan law (in accord with a 1956 decree prohibiting publication of photos of the king and his family without authorization).[5]

Life

Born Fatima Amahzoune, but called Latifa (to avoid confusion with her cousin, the king's first wife, the former Lalla Fatima bint Qaid Ould Hassan Amhourak), Lalla Latifa is the daughter of a senior Berber notable of the Zayane tribe,[6] related to Mouha ou Hammou Zayani, and niece of the Qaid Ould Hassan Amhourak. She married Hassan II in 1961.[7]

She is the sister of General Medbouh Hammou Amahzoune, who was executed along with 9 other high-ranking military officers. He was executed for having widely participated in the 1971 failed coupd'etat attempt against Hassan II which was during the King's forty-second birthday party in his summer palace.[8] The execution took place on 13 July 1971 and was broadcast live on state TV.[8]

After the death of Hassan II, she married Mohamed Mediouri, the bodyguard of the late monarch and former security chief of the royal palace.[9][10]

References

  1. Aissa Amourag (17 October 2008). "Une escroquerie presque parfaite". MarocHebdo. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  2. (24 July 1999).Morocco's King Hassan dies, aged 70, Independent Online (South Africa)
  3. (27 March 1989). Royal Treat for Maggie, Evening Times
  4. Hughes, Stephen. (17 November 1975).With Thousands on the Road from Morocco, King Hassan Encourages a Sahara March-in, People (magazine)
  5. (15 February 2009). Prohibido publicar fotos de la madre de Mohamed VI (Forbidden to publish photographs of Mohamed VI's mother), El País (in Spanish)
  6. (10 February 1967). The King of Morocco, Hassan II, The New York Times ("daughter of Kaid Amaroq, a mountain chieftain")
  7. Royal Ark
  8. 8.0 8.1 "شاهد على العصر - أحمد المرزوقي - الجزء الثالث". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  9. Mahjoub Tobji (2006-09-13). Les officiers de Sa Majesté:Les dérives des généraux marocains 1956-2006. Fayard. ISBN 978-2-213-64072-3.
  10. Ali Amar (2009-04-29). Mohammed VI, le grand malentendu. Calman-Levy. ISBN 978-2-702-14857-0.