Hassan II of Morocco
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Hassan II (July 9, 1929-July 23, 1999) was King of Morocco from 1961 to his death. He was the eldest son of Mohammed V, Sultan, then King of Morocco and his wife Lalla Abla bint Tahar (a.k.a Um Sidi), whom he married in 1926 as either his first or third wife.
He was exiled to Corsica by French authorities on 20 August 1953, along with his father Sultan Mohammed V. They were transferred to Madagascar in January 1954. Prince Moulay Hassan acted as his father's political advisor during the exile. Mohammed V and his family returned from exile on 16 November 1955. Hassan participated with his father in the February 1956 negotiations for Moroccan independence.
Hassan was appointed Chief of Staff of the Royal Armed Forces in April 1956 by his father. In the unrest of 1956, he led army contingents battling Berbers in the mountains of the Rif. Mohammed V changed the title of the Moroccan sovereign from Sultan to King in 1957. Hassan was proclaimed Crown Prince on 19 July 1957, and became King on 3 March 1961, after his father's death.
His conservative rule strengthened the Alaouite Dynasty. During his reign, Morocco annexed Western Sahara in the "Green March" of 1975. Also, Morocco saw the beginnings of directly-elected parliamentary government in the kingdom. (See Politics of Morocco)
In 1972, during a second attempted at a coup d'etat, the Royal Moroccan Air Force mistakenly fired upon the King's plane while he was traveling back to Rabat, but failed to bring it down.
Family
The king married twice. His first wife was Lalla Fatima bint Qaid Amhourok, the daughter of a regional official, whom he married in Rabat in 1961; they had no children. He took as his second wife, also in 1961, Lalla Latifa Hammou, a Berber woman of the Zaiane tribe. The king had five children with Lalla Latifa:
- HRH Princess Lalla Meryem
- HM King Mohammed VI
- HRH Princess Lalla Asma
- HRH Princess Lalla Hasna
- HRH Prince Moulay Rachid
See also
References and links
- Morocco Alaoui dynasty (http://www.usa-morocco.org/alaoui.htm)
- History of Morocco (http://www.mincom.gov.ma/english/generalities/history/history.html)
| Preceded by: Mohammed V | List of Kings of Morocco | Succeeded by: Mohammed VI |
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