Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco

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**Royal Family of Morocco**

HM The King HRH The Princess Consort HRH The Crown Prince HRH Princess Lalla Khadija HRH Princess Lalla Meryem HRH Princess Lalla Asma HRH Princess Lalla Hasna HRH Prince Moulay Rachid

Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco (Arabic: الأميرة للا سلمى) is the wife of King Mohammed VI of Morocco and the first wife of a Moroccan ruler to have been publicly acknowledged and given a royal title.

She is styled as Her Royal Highness The Princess Consort.

She was born Salma Bennani on May 10, 1978 in Fez, Morocco. Her father is a primary school teacher; her mother died when she was three years old. She was raised by her maternal grandmother.

She was educated in private and public schools in Rabat. Upon completing her primary education, she qualified for an honors program that was initiated by the Ministry of National Education, which resulted in her 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 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 and Princess Lalla Khadija. [1]

Salma has kept quite a low profile as first lady of Morocco, although a more public one than her antecessors in the role, who 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 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. She has also represented the King and Morocco in meetings and gatherings such as in Thailand, Japan and France.

Lalla Salma's wardrobe is primarily designed by Chanel, Dior, Jean Paul Gauthier, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Prada and the largest houses of haute couture. She also wears traditional Moroccan wear, such as kaftans. Her shoes are manufactured on order at Massaro or Fratelli Rossetti or Hogan. Her jewels come from Cartier, Chaumet, Piaget, Van Cleef. Her perfumes are from Maison Guerlain, Yves Saint Laurent or Patou.