A communications operation intended to show the King of Morocco in better condition produced the opposite effect. Mohammed VI was photographed in a Parisian luxury store without a cane, but in an outfit that does not befit his status. The image was released on November 17.
The origin of the photo is unknown, but observers do not rule out that it was leaked by the Moroccan services with the sole aim of making people believe that the king has recovered and that he has regained his ability to walk normally.
On vacation in France since November 7, Mohammed VI visited the Printemps ready-to-wear store on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris. He wore, among other things, brightly colored floral jeans. He appeared to be walking normally without the cane he leaned on while welcoming French President Emmanuel Macron on October 28.
But very quickly, it did not escape many people that it was an image and not a video. No one could therefore formally maintain that the King of Morocco walked without a cane in the Parisian store.
« It's a photo, let's say, advertising, and not a video. According to experts on the state of health of the Moroccan sovereign, in a video it can be seen that he is unable to manage the left side of his body. Hence the cane we saw recently », tweeted the Moroccan journalist living in exile in Spain, Ali Lmrabet.
Mohammed VI was indeed photographed in floral jeans in Paris
Media relays from the royal palace indirectly confirmed the intentions “ advertising » of those who leaked the photo, hastening to take it back and present it as proof that Mohammed VI is doing better.
Except that the expected effect is not what happened. The image was followed by strong criticism targeting the outfit in which King Mohammed VI appeared publicly, deemed unsuitable for his rank and his status as Commander of the Faithful (Amir Al Mu'minin).
Faced with the indignation and mockery aroused, royal communications seem to have opted for another strategy: to make people believe in a photo-montage.
Pro-Moroccan pages on social networks began to spread the idea of a fake image. The assertion was taken up by the French news page, Cerfia, on X.
A Moroccan account even claimed to have found the original photo to which the image of Mohammed VI was added. But after a careful investigation, the section “ the Observers » from France 24 concluded that the image is authentic and that Mohammed VI was indeed photographed at the Printemps store, in floral patterned jeans and casual shoes. It was the Moroccan account which faked the photo by clumsily erasing the silhouette of the king.
This failed communication operation seems to have been initiated after concerns were raised about the state of health of the king by the images broadcast by Moroccan television on October 28. King Mohammed VI, very weakened, leaned on a cane and walked painfully on the red carpet deployed to welcome President Macron at Rabat airport.
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