Morocco’s Princess Lalla Meryem Celebrates 57th Birthday

Rabat – Morocco’s Princess Lalla Meryem, born to King Hassan II and his wife, Lalla Latifa Hammou, celebrates her 57th birthday Monday, August 26.

The firstborn child of King Hassan and Lalla Latifa, Lalla Meryem was born in Italy during the royal family’s vacation.

Throughout her life, Lalla Meryem has taken on her roles in the royal family as the daughter of a King and sister of a King while pursuing her role in society as a royal advocate for women and vulnerable children.

Lalla Meryem has served as president of the Social Work of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) since 1981, a post King Hassan II gave her shortly after she received her Baccalaureate from Mohammed V University.

Focusing on the plight of Morocco’s most needy people, Lalla Meryem’s work includes presiding over the National Observatory for the Rights of the Child (ONDE), the Moroccan Association of Support for UNICEF, the Children’s Parliament, and the National Union of Women of Morocco (UNFM), according to state-owned news agency Maghreb Arab Press (MAP).

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In the last year, Lalla Meryem has attended numerous functions as part of her royal work. She launched the African Cities Without Street Children campaign in November 2018 Marrakech during the Africities Summit.

In March, the secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Yousef Al-Othaimeen, appointed Lalla Meryem as goodwill ambassador for the prevention of child marriage and the promotion of family and marital values.

The princess also launched a vocational skills center for production, marketing, and training this year to help young people aged 15 to 30 to learn skills for the labor market, MAP reports.

Lalla Meryem has also stepped up to welcome several royal visitors to Morocco in the past year, including Princess Astrid of Belgium, Queen Letizia of Spain, and the UK’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Since King Mohammed VI’s divorce from his wife, Lalla Meryem often appears at his side at official functions.

Lalla Meryem has two children, Lalla Soukaina Filali and Moulay Idris Filali, and twin grandchildren, Hassan and Aya Regragui, who will be 4 years old next month.