First Lady of Morocco

Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco, First Lady of Morocco

Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco (Arabic: الأميرة للا سلمى‎), born Salma Bennani on May 10, 1978, 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.

Salma was born in Fes, Morocco, to a primary school teacher father. Her mother died when she was three years old; from then on she was raised by her maternal grandmother. She lived in Rabat with her cousin Saira, and the two are commonly seen together in public.

She was educated in Rabat. Upon completing her primary education, she qualified for an honours programme that was initiated by the Ministry of National Education, which resulted in her obtaining a baccalaureate in 1995 in science and was her class valedictorian. Later she worked 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 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
Princess Lalla Khadija born February 28, 2007

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. She also met quite a number of foreign royalty during official visits to Morocco where she was the host to them or royal gatherings such as Queen Rania of Jordan, Queen Paola of Belgium, 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, Infanta Cristina of Spain or Princess Takamado of Japan. She has also represented the King and Morocco in meetings and gatherings such as in Thailand, Japan and France. She also founded a cancer prevention association in Morocco and has been involved in HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa work.

She has been on several visits abroad to discuss topics such as diseases (HIV-AIDS, cancer) or female empowerment. Recently, she visited Tunisia and Saudi Arabia as a special ambassador, to discuss these topics.

Salma has been referred to as a traditional woman who enjoys Moroccan traditions and costumes. Lalla Salma is keen on fashion and can either be seen wearing opulent traditional Moroccan kaftans or dressed in a more Occidental style. Salma was seen wearing Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino, Christian Dior, Chanel, Balmain, Elie Saab and Balenciaga and jewels by Garrard, Boucheron and Cartier.