Latifa was born under the name Latifa Amahzoune in 1943 or 1944 in
Khenifra. She was of the
Zayane tribe and came from an important
Amazigh family. She was the daughter of a provincial governor and granddaughter of the famous
Mouha ou Hammou Zayani. Berber tribal leader was either her father or uncle. Latifa was the maternal half-sister of General
Mohamed Medbouh (the latter's father being of the
Gzennaya Riffian tribe), who co-organized and died – after a squabble with
M'hamed Ababou, one of the coup leaders – 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. She married Hassan II on 9 November 1961, 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. Five children were born from their union: •
Princess Lalla Meryem (26 August 1962); • Crown Prince
Sidi Mohammed, later
King Mohammed VI (21 August 1963); •
Princess Lalla Asma (29 September 1965); •
Princess Lalla Hasna (19 November 1967); •
Prince Moulay Rachid (20 June 1970). Latifa was
de facto princess consort from her marriage to Hassan II, and
princess dowager following
his death in 1999. She never held a public role in the royal family, per peculiar protocol. After Hassan's death, Latifa remarried in May 2000 to
Mohamed Mediouri, Hassan's bodyguard and former security chief of the royal palace. From 2000, Latifa lived in France, where she possessed a residence in
Neuilly-sur-Seine, and often returned to Morocco. 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. == Tribute ==