The spokesperson for the royal palace in Rabat announces the death of Princess Lalla Latifa, this Saturday June 29, 2024, wife of the late King Hassan II and mother of King Mohammed VI.
Princess Lalla Latifa, born Latifa Amahzoune in 1946 in Khenifra, Morocco, died this Saturday, June 29, announced the royal office in Rabat. She was the widow of Hassan II and the mother of King Mohammed VI, Princesses Lalla Meryem, Lalla Asma, Lalla Hasna, and Prince Moulay Rachid. The funeral ceremony will take place in private and will take place inside Dar Al Makhzen at the My El Hassan Mausoleum.
Hailing from the Berber tribe of Zayanes of Khénifra, Lalla Latifa came from a prominent Amazigh family. Her father, Hassan Ould Mouha, was the Pasha of Khénifra and Adel of the Zayanes, and her grandfather was the legendary Mouha Ou Hammou Zayani.
In accordance with a particular protocol, Lalla Latifa never held a public role and remained a non-public member of the royal family. She was referred to in the Moroccan media as the “Mother of the Royal Children”.
After living in France from 2000, where she had a residence in Neuilly-sur-Seine, she often returned to Morocco. In 2019, she settled permanently in Marrakech.
In August 2022, she was ill and hospitalized in France, and Mohammed VI visited her at her bedside.
Lalla Latifa married the late King Hassan II on November 9, 1961, during a double nuptial ceremony with Lamia Solh, the bride of her brother-in-law Moulay Abdallah. Since then, she had become Princess Lalla Latifa. Five children were born from their union, including the current sovereign Mohammed VI.
After the death of Hassan II, Lalla Latifa remarried Mohamed Mediouri, the late monarch’s bodyguard and former head of security at the royal palace. Their second marriage took place in May 2000.
In 2018, in her honor, King Mohammed VI had the “SA Princess Lalla Latifa Mosque” built in Salé. This mosque, which is eponymous, is located in Hay Essalam and has an area of 1,200 square meters. It can accommodate more than 1,800 worshipers and also has a Koranic school, two prayer rooms and accommodation for the imam and muezzin.
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