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Lalla Latifa Amahzoune

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Lalla Latifa
Princess Dowager
File:Lalla Latifa Amahzoune.jpg
Lalla Latifa at her daughter's wedding in 1984
BornLatifa Amahzoune
1943/1944
Khenifra, French protectorate in Morocco
Died(2024-06-29)29 June 2024 (aged 79-80/80-81)
Burial
Moulay El Hassan Mausoleum
Dar al-Makhzen, Rabat
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1961; died 1999)​

Mohamed Mediouri
(m. 2000)
IssuePrincess Lalla Meryem
King Mohammed VI
Princess Lalla Asma
Princess Lalla Hasna
Prince Moulay Rachid
FatherHassan ould Mouha ou Hammou Zayani

Princess Lalla Latifa (Arabic: للا لطيفة)[1][2] née: Amahzoune; (1943/1944[3] – 29 June 2024) was the widow of King Hassan II of Morocco, and the mother of King Mohammed VI, Princesses Lalla Meryem, Lalla Asma, Lalla Hasna, and Prince Moulay Rachid.[4][5][6]

Biography

She was born under the name Latifa Amahzoune in 1943 or 1944.[3] Lalla Latifa was of the Zayane tribe[7] and came from an important Amazigh family.[8] She was the daughter of a provincial governor,[9] her father was Hassan ould Mouha ou Hammou Zayani, Pasha of Khenifra and Adel of the Zayanes.[10][note 1] Her grandfather was the famous Mouha ou Hammou Zayani.[11] She married Hassan II on 9 November 1961[12] in a double nuptial ceremony with Lalla Lamia as-Solh[12] the bride of Prince Moulay Abdallah of Morocco.

She is maternal half-sister to General Mohamed Medbouh (the latter's father being of the Gzennaya Riffian tribe) who was executed – along with 9 other high-ranking military officers – for having widely participated in the 1971 failed coup d'état attempt against Hassan II, which took place during the King's forty-second birthday party in his summer palace.[13][14] The execution took place on 13 July 1971 and was broadcast live on state TV.[14]

Lalla Latifa never held a public role and remained a non-public member of the royal family, as per peculiar protocol.[1] She was referred to by the Moroccan media as "Mother of the Royal Children".

From 2000, she lived in France[15] where she possessed a residence in Neuilly-sur-Seine and often returned to Morocco.[16][17] In 2019, she settled permanently in Morocco, in Marrakesh.[18]

She died in Morocco on 29 June 2024 and was buried at the Moulay El Hassan Mausoleum at the Royal Palace of Rabat.[19][20]

Private life

She married Hassan II on 9 November 1961[12] and became from then on Her Highness Princess Lalla Latifa.[1][21] Five children were born from their union, including the current monarch Mohammed VI:

After the death of Hassan II, she remarried to Mohamed Mediouri,[22][23][24] the bodyguard of the late Monarch[24] and former security chief of the royal palace.[25] Her remarriage took place in May 2000.[26][27]

Tribute

In 2018, in her honour, King Mohammed VI inaugurated the “Mosque of H.H. Princess Lalla Latifa” in Salé.[21] This mosque is located in Hay Essalam and has an area of 1,200 square meters.[28] It has the capacity to accommodate more than 1,800 worshippers. It also has a Koranic school, two prayer rooms and accommodation for the imam and the muezzin.[28] The design of the mosque is a combination of traditional Andalusian architecture with a modern addition.[28]

Notes

  1. ^ Proceeded by elimination: her father is a provincial governor, and in Morocco the “Pasha” of a city, in this case Khenifra, is the equivalent of the governor of a city. In the Middle Atlas its capital Khenifra administrated the region (being rural). Also her grand-father being Mouha ou Hammou, her father can only be his son and we know that he is a "provincial governor" & among Mouha ou Hammou's sons only Hassan was "Pasha=Governor" of Khenifra (he was also the last feudal leader)

References

  1. ^ a b c "Hassan II du Maroc invité de "L'Heure de Vérité" | Archive INA". YouTube (in French). From 1:06:30s to 1:07:30s. Journalist: Why don't we know the Queen of Morocco ? King Hassan II's response: ... there has never been a Queen ... when I have the opportunity to present the mother of princes who bears the title of Princess [but who] not that of Queen. Who has no political activity ... I present her very normally because I believe that she is, that she is well brought up, that she is very presentable ...
  2. ^ Aissa Amourag (17 October 2008). "Une escroquerie presque parfaite". MarocHebdo. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  3. ^ a b Images, Historic. "1962 Press Photo Morocco's King Hassan II with his infant daughter, Mariam". Historic Images. Retrieved 9 January 2024. Morocco's King Hassan II visited his daughter, Mariam, who was born in a Rome clinic. Announcement of the infant's birth was the first word that the king had married a commoner. The Moroccan embassy in Rome said she is Latifa, 18, daughter of a Berber chieftain.
  4. ^ (24 July 1999). Morocco's King Hassan dies, aged 70, Independent Online (South Africa)
  5. ^ (27 March 1989). Royal Treat for Maggie, Evening Times
  6. ^ (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)
  7. ^ "Lalla Latifa". frontend. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  8. ^ Reich, Bernard (21 February 1990). Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-313-26213-5.
  9. ^ Mack, Beverley; Boyd, Jean (23 September 2013). Educating Muslim Women: The West African Legacy of Nana Asma u 1793-1864. Kube Publishing Ltd. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-84774-061-8. Hassan II (r.1961-99), on his accession, married Lalla Latifa, the daughter of a provincial governor
  10. ^ Bulletin des études arabes: (intermédiaire des arabisants) (in French). Swets and Zeitlinger. 1966. p. 29. Hassan ould Moha ou Hammou, Adel of the Zaïanes, Pacha de Khenifra
  11. ^ occidentale (France), Laboratoire d'anthropologie et de préhistoire des pays de la Méditerranée; musulman, Institut de recherches et d'études sur le monde arabe et (2005). Encyclopédie berbère (in French). EDISUD. ISBN 978-2-7449-0538-4. That King Mohammed VI, who is himself the great-grandson of Moha ou Hammou, took advantage of a stay in Khenifra to announce in October 2001 ...
  12. ^ a b c "magazine picture – 1961 – morocco moulay abdallah king hassan II wedding". eBay. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  13. ^ "1971: Death for Moroccan rebel leaders". BBC. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  14. ^ a b شاهد على العصر – أحمد المرزوقي – الجزء الثالث (in Arabic). Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  15. ^ Média, Prisma (5 October 2020). "Mohammed VI, roi du Maroc, s'offre un pied-à-terre de 80 millions d'euros à Paris - Gala". Gala.fr (in French). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  16. ^ Jeune Afrique l'intelligent (in French). Groupe Jeune Afrique. 2008. p. 8.
  17. ^ Vermeren, Pierre (2009). Le Maroc de Mohammed VI: la transition inachevée (in French). Découverte. p. 70. ISBN 978-2-7071-5582-5.
  18. ^ "Mohammed VI rend visite à sa mère à Marrakech". bladinet (in French). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  19. ^ National, The (29 June 2024). "Tributes paid as King of Morocco's mother dies". The National. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  20. ^ "Maroc : mort de la princesse Lalla Latifa, mère de Mohammed VI - Jeune Afrique.com". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  21. ^ a b "SM le Roi, Amir Al-Mouminine, inaugure à Salé la "Mosquée SA la Princesse Lalla Latifa" et y accomplit la prière du vendredi – La commune de Salé" (in French). 3 August 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  22. ^ Mahjoub Tobji (13 September 2006). Les officiers de Sa Majesté:Les dérives des généraux marocains 1956-2006 (PDF) (in French). Fayard. p. 52. ISBN 978-2-213-64072-3. Médiouri ... ended up marrying the widow of Hassan II, Latifa, a few years after the disappearance of the sovereign.
  23. ^ Ali Amar (29 April 2009). Mohammed VI, le grand malentendu (PDF) (in French). Calman-Levy. p. 52. ISBN 978-2-702-14857-0. Mohamed Médiouri ... had married the mother of Mohammed VI, and therefore the former wife of Hassan II, Latifa
  24. ^ a b AFP. "Moroccan king also targeted by NSO Group's malware". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 31 May 2023. ... and Hassan II's former bodyguard, Mohamed Mediouri, who is the current king's stepfather.
  25. ^ Cembrero, Ignacio (20 May 2019). "El misterioso intento de asesinato en Marrakech del padrastro de Mohamed VI". vanitatis.elconfidencial.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 May 2023. Mediouri was, between 1976 and 2000, a bodyguard and later head of the Department of Royal Protection, that is, in charge of the security of King Hassan II, who died in 1999.
  26. ^ Ignace Dalle (9 March 2011). Hassan II entre tradition et absolutisme. Fayard. ISBN 978-2-213-66458-3.
  27. ^ "MOROCCO : MOHAMED MEDIOURI - 25/05/2000 - Maghreb Confidential". Africa Intelligence. 25 May 2000. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  28. ^ a b c "First Friday of Ramadan: King Mohammed VI Inaugurates Mosque 'Lalla Latifa'". www.moroccoworldnews.com/.
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