Marrying a prince and becoming a princess sounds like something from a fairytale, but it was a reality for Lebanese Lamia Al-Solh.
Born in 1937, Lamia was one of 5 daughters of the 1st Prime Minister of Lebanon, Riad Al-Solh.
When she was only 14 years old, her father was assassinated in an attack carried out by members of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.
After 10 years, on November 9th, 1961, 24-year-old Lamia married Prince Moulay Abdellah of Morocco, becoming the first woman outside the Moroccan Alawite Dynasty to gain the title of princess.
It is said that their love story began in Paris, where they met when Lamia was studying at the Sorbonne University.
The late Sultan of Morocco, Mohammed V, then accompanied Moulay Abdellah on a trip to Lebanon to make the relationship formal.
Together the glamorous couple had three children, Prince Moulay Hicham, Princess Lalla Zeinab, and Prince Moulay Ismail.
In the 1971 Moroccan coup d’état attempt, Lamia was almost executed but spared at the last minute when rebel soldiers realized she was pregnant. The prince, however, was injured with several gunshot wounds.
The prince passed away in 1983 due to cancer at the young age of 48. Lamia decided to remain in Rabat, Morocco. Today, she is the president of the Alaouite Organization for the Promotion of the Blind in Morocco.
Interestingly, she was not the only sibling to marry into royalty in the family. Her sister, Mona Al-Solh, was married to the Saudi Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz and is the mother of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, Prince Khalid bin Talal, and Princess Reema bint Talal.
Her youngest sister is Leila Al-Solh, a former Lebanese minister of industry and the vice president of her nephew’s Alwaleed Philanthropies, formerly called Al-Waleed bin Talal Foundation.
This is a recent picture of Princess Lamia with her son, Prince Moulay Hicham Alaoui: