Latifa was the maternal half-sister of General Mohamed Medbouh (the latter's father being of the GzennayaRiffian tribe), who co-organized and died – after a squabble with Ababou one of the coup leaders[16] – during the 1971 failed coup d'état attempt against Hassan II, which took place during the King's forty-second birthday party in his summer palace.[17][18]
Latifa never held a public role in the royal family, per peculiar protocol.[1][7] She was referred to by the Moroccan media as the "mother of the royal children".[19]
From 2000 Latifa lived in France,[20] where she possessed a residence in Neuilly-sur-Seine, and often returned to Morocco.[21][22]
In 2005 she performed the Hajj pilgrimage accompanied by her friends as well as Khaled Al-Samadi, former Secretary of State in charge of higher education and scientific research, and Dr. Muhammad Al-Sarrar, a professor at the Faculty of Sharia in Fez.[3] Al-Samadi posthumously described her as very patient during Arafat's descent to perform Tawaf al-Ifadah like all other pilgrims, without seeking the aid of any special security protocols. He adds that Lalla Latifa was the pinnacle of humility, mercy, gentleness, generosity and extreme concern to perform every detail of the Hajj rituals until she performed them completely with perseverance and patience.[3]
In 2019, she settled permanently in Morocco, in Marrakesh.[23]
She married Hassan II on 9 November 1961,[14] during a double nuptial ceremony with Lamia Al Solh, the bride of her brother-in-law, Prince Moulay Abdallah. She was from that point on styled Her Highness Princess Lalla Latifa.[1][24] Five children were born from their union:[15]
In 2018, King Mohammed VI inaugurated the "Mosque of H.H. Princess Lalla Latifa" in Salé in her honor.[24] It is in Hay Essalam and has an area of 1,200 square meters.[31] It has the capacity to accommodate more than 1,800 worshippers. It also has a Koranic school, two prayer rooms, and accommodation for the imam and the muezzin.[31] The design of the mosque is a combination of traditional Andalusian architecture with a modern addition.[31]
Lalla Latifa died in Rabat, Morocco on 29 June 2024.[32][a] A private funeral took place the same day at the Moulay el-Hassan Mausoleum, located within the grounds of the Royal Palace of Rabat.[33] The United Kingdom's embassy and consulate in Morocco lowered its flag to half-mast in her tribute.[34] The United Arab Emirates and Algeria were among the first countries to present their condolences to the monarch, her son King Mohammed VI.[35][36] No events were cancelled following her death.[37]
^ abc"Hassan II du Maroc invité de『L'Heure de Vérité』| Archive INA". YouTube (in French). 23 July 2019. From 1:06:30s to 1:07:30s. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023. Journalist: Why don't we know the Queen of Morocco ? King Hassan II's response: ... there has never been a Queen ... when I have the opportunity to present the mother of princes who bears the title of Princess [but who] not that of Queen. Who has no political activity ... I present her very normally because I believe that she is, that she is well brought up, that she is very presentable ...
^ abc"وزير سابق رافق الأميرة للا لطيفة للعمرة والحج: كان تدينها قويا وتواضعها شديدا". اليوم 24 – أخبار اليوم على مدار الساعة (in Arabic). Retrieved 1 July 2024. Regarding his accompanying the mother of King Mohammed VI to perform the Umrah and Hajj rituals in 2005, Al-Samadi explained that he was honored, along with Dr. Muhammad Al-Sarrar, a professor at the Faculty of Sharia in Fez, upon assignment by the Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, to accompany Her Royal Highness the Honorable Lalla Latifa, the mother of His Majesty the King. "In performing the rituals of Umrah and Hajj."
^Images, Historic. "1962 Press Photo Morocco's King Hassan II with his infant daughter, Mariam". Historic Images. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024. Morocco's King Hassan II visited his daughter, Mariam, who was born in a Rome clinic. Announcement of the infant's birth was the first word that the king had married a commoner. The Moroccan embassy in Rome said she is Latifa, 18, daughter of a Berber chieftain.
^"Lalla Latifa". frontend. 18 September 2020. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
^occidentale (France), Laboratoire d'anthropologie et de préhistoire des pays de la Méditerranée; musulman, Institut de recherches et d'études sur le monde arabe et (2005). Encyclopédie berbère (in French). EDISUD. ISBN978-2-7449-0538-4. Archived from the original on 6 April 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023. That King Mohammed VI, who is himself the great-grandson of Moha ou Hammou, took advantage of a stay in Khenifra to announce in October 2001 ...
^Ali Amar (29 April 2009). Mohammed VI, le grand malentendu(PDF) (in French). Calman-Levy. p. 52. ISBN978-2-702-14857-0. Archived(PDF) from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023. Mohamed Médiouri ... had married the mother of Mohammed VI, and therefore the former wife of Hassan II, Latifa
^Cembrero, Ignacio (20 May 2019). "El misterioso intento de asesinato en Marrakech del padrastro de Mohamed VI". vanitatis.elconfidencial.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023. Mediouri was, between 1976 and 2000, a bodyguard and later head of the Department of Royal Protection, that is, in charge of the security of King Hassan II, who died in 1999.
