Moulay Hassan, the crown prince learning to reign in Morocco

Moulay Hassan bin Mohammed al-Alawite, Crown Prince of Morocco, is intensifying his training for the throne following the convalescence of King Mohammed VI, who underwent shoulder surgery in late 2024 and suffered from a lower back ailment earlier this year. The monarch has appointed his eldest son, who turned 23 on Friday, to one of the highest military posts in the North African country, while also encouraging the young man to represent him with increasing frequency at important official events.

In recent months, Moulay Hassan has presided over the opening ceremony of the Africa Cup of Nations; he has inaugurated the ultramodern Mohammed VI tower, the 250-meter skyscraper that has redefined the cityscape of Rabat, and he has just presided over the opening of the International Book and Publishing Fair in the Moroccan capital, with the presence of renowned authors.

The prince has been groomed to reign since his birth in 2003 at the royal palace in Rabat, and has been educated in the time-honored rites of the Alaouite monarchy’s protocol. Representing his father, he has attended state funerals, such as that of former French president Jacques Chirac; met with foreign leaders, such as Chinese President Xi Jinping; and accompanied the king to a luncheon with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, which sealed the diplomatic rapprochement between the two countries after a long-standing dispute over Western Sahara.

Moulay Hassan achieved national notoriety and an aura of leadership when he stepped onto the pitch of the Moulay Abdullah Stadium in the kingdom’s capital on December 21. He had inaugurated the stadium just weeks earlier, and more than 60,000 Moroccan spectators cheered him on as he appeared in public, soaked to the bone in a torrential downpour. By performing the ceremonial kickoff of the Africa Cup of Nations, he symbolized the recognition of his growing public profile as crown prince, a move accelerated by the illness and absences from public life of King Mohammed VI, 62. However, it was ultimately his uncle, Moulay Rashid, second in line to the throne, who presented the trophy to the winning team on the field on January 18.

Mohammed VI did not make any public appearances in his country from October 31 — when he addressed the nation on television following the U.N. Security Council’s adoption of a resolution endorsing Morocco’s proposed autonomy plan as a solution to the Western Sahara conflict — until the end of January 2026. In the days leading up to Ramadan (in February and March), he presided over cabinet and government meetings in Casablanca before participating in various religious ceremonies related to the holy Muslim month. It has been common in recent months for his son to assist him in getting up and sitting down at the events he attends.

Moroccan media outlets reported that the monarch traveled to the United Arab Emirates on a private trip last November. Images circulated on social media showing him in a Dubai shopping mall in early December. The debate surrounding the king’s public presence in his country was reignited after he spent more than six months abroad in 2022 — in Gabon, the Seychelles, and France — and another three months in the same countries in 2024. In the winter of 2025, he spent several weeks in the United Arab Emirates.

Civilian upbringing, military rank

After completing his secondary education at the Royal College, an elite school within the Rabat palace complex, Moulay Hassan pursued studies in Governance and International Relations at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, a public institution of innovation and excellence, on its Rabat campus. He speaks Classical Arabic and Moroccan Arabic (Darija), Amazigh (Berber), English, French and Spanish, and also appears to be taking Mandarin Chinese lessons. Without any formal military training, he has nevertheless held the rank of colonel since adolescence, and is a regular attendee at commissioning ceremonies at the General Staff headquarters in Rabat or at the Military Academy in Kenitra, 50 kilometers north of the capital.

This same week, his father appointed him coordinator of the departments and services of the General Staff of the Armed Forces —the same high-ranking position prior to the rank of general that the current monarch held as heir to the throne in 1985, also before turning 23—, giving him access to sensitive national security matters in a further step towards his incorporation into the governance of the kingdom.

While finalizing his plans for postgraduate studies, which will presumably take place abroad, the Moroccan media indicates that he is undergoing a program of working sessions with local and international experts in geopolitics, one of his major areas of interest, under the supervision of Mustafa Terrab, CEO of OCP Group, the largest Moroccan public company that controls, among others, strategic sectors such as phosphate mines.

His presence at inaugurations, official receptions, and sporting and cultural events has increased since his father reduced his own activity during the Covid pandemic. In Morocco, where the figure of the king and his public presence are the key to the state’s power structure, Mohammed VI’s health has suffered in recent years due to a series of illnesses and accidents. The monarch has been looking visibly thinner since 2013, after a decade of being overweight. In 2018 and 2020, he underwent two heart surgeries. In October 2014, he walked onto the tarmac at Rabat airport using a cane to welcome French President Emmanuel Macron, “due to sciatica,” according to an official report.

The return of Lala Salma

At one of the matches of the recent Africa Cup of Nations held in Morocco, Moulay Hassan, who is a soccer fan and supporter of FC Barcelona, ​​was accompanied in the VIP box by his sister, Princess Lalla Khadijah, 19, and his mother, Lalla Salma, an engineer whom Mohammed VI divorced in 2018. Although the monarch’s former consort lost her role in the royal household after the separation and seemed to disappear from the public eye, her two children have continued to live with her in Rabat, maintaining a very close relationship with her, in a residence near the royal palace. They both spend a good part of their holidays with their mother.

The discreet reappearance of the king’s ex-wife seems to indicate the young prince’s desire to have his mother close by as he takes his first official steps. Last autumn, Lalla Salma, along with Princess Khadijah — who is expected to become first lady following her parents’ divorce — visited the University Hospital of Fez as part of the activities of the cancer foundation she chairs. At the end of December, she accompanied her two children on a visit to Marrakech, where the three family members strolled through the historic Jemaa el-Fna square in full view of the public.

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