Royal Profile:Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco

Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco was born 10 May 1978, the daughter of al-Haj Abdel Hamid Bennan Naima Bennan{Source}. She is the princess consort of Mohammed VI {Source}. She is the mother of:

• Crown Prince Moulay Hassan (born 8 May 2003) 
• Princess Lalla Khadija (born 28 February 2007).

Her mother died when she was just three years old {Source}. She and her sister were raised by her maternal grandmother{Source}. She was educated in private schools in Rabat, Morocco{Source}. After completing her engineering studies, she worked for a few years between 1999 and 2002 as an information services engineer at ONA Group, the country's largest private holding company (which is also controlled by the Moroccan Royal Family){Source}.

She met her husband during a private party in 1999. They began a courtship shortly after, and were married in 2002{Source}.

Since becoming Morocco's first lady, she has kept a low-profile. However, unlike her predecessors for the position, she has kept a more well known profile{Source}. She is active in supporting cancer associations and the Fez Sacred Music Festival{Source}. Salma has also represented the King and Morocco in meetings and gatherings 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. Recently, she visited Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.

For foreign honors, she holds orders from Belgium & Spain{Source}:

• Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II of Belgium since 5 October 2004
• Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic of Spain since 17 January 2005