Where is Morocco’s Princess Lalla Salma? She went to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in 2011 and met former US first lady Michelle Obama in 2016, but has rarely been seen since
- Salma Bennani met King Mohammed VI-to-be at a party in 1999 and they have two children: Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, 18, and Princess Lalla Khadija, 15
- She founded the Lalla Salma Foundation to combat cancer, became a World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador, and works to stop the spread of HIV/Aids in Africa
Salma Bennani was just your typical Moroccan girl who studied computer science at university, met a guy at a party in 1999 and married him three years later. Only that guy was a prince destined to be the country’s reigning monarch, today’s King Mohammed VI – the fifth richest person in all Africa, according to Forbes in 2015.
Now known as Princess Lalla Salma, she has had two children with King Mohammed: Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, 18, and Princess Lalla Khadija, 15.
But this modern fairy tale comes with a plot twist. Princess Lalla Salma was the first wife of a Moroccan royal to be given her own title, and often broke with tradition, seen publicly doing humanitarian work. But now she’s mysteriously disappeared. Where could she possibly be, and what may have happened to her?
Here’s everything we know about Princess Lalla Salma …
Modern princess
As cliché as it may sound, Princess Lalla Salma wasn’t your typical wife to the king. The first wife of a Moroccan king to be given a royal title, she became officially known as Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Salma.
Despite her royal status, humanitarian advocacy was where her heart was. In 2005, the princess founded the Lalla Salma Foundation to combat cancer, was made a Goodwill Ambassador for the World Health Organization, and has also worked to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids in Africa.
Princess Lalla Salma was also a trailblazer for women at the court with her signature style of wearing trousers in public and abstaining from the use of a headscarf in a Muslim country.