Moroccan Prince’s Marriage to Lebanese Politician’s Daughter Strengthened Diplomatic Ties

The two lovebirds, who were students at the time, had met in 1957 at a party organized in Paris, recalls Al Akhbar. It was love at first sight. The prince shared with his father, the late King Mohammed V, his intention to marry Lamia Essolh. The sovereign had traveled to Beirut in 1959 to ask for her hand. In 1961, the official marriage certificate was signed a few days after the death of the King of Morocco.

This link, which further united Morocco and Lebanon, had allowed to thwart a coup against the late King Hassan II. The former Syrian Minister of Defense Mustapha Talass, very close to the Essolh family through his wife Lamia Al Jabiri, had informed Lamia Essolh’s mother of the plot being hatched against the Moroccan sovereign. She had gone to Morocco to inform the late Hassan II of the conspiracies of the putschist general Oufkir. Oufkir’s coup attempt had failed.