Morocco: Choose Your Partners

Militant Feminist Lalla Aisha of Morocco made her first public speech in the cause of female emancipation at the age of 17. She urged the veiled and backward women of her land “to participate ardently and usefully in the life of the nation.” The speech automatically earned her the leadership of the Moroccan feminist movement (TIME cover, Nov.11, 1957) for she was a princess, the daughter of King Mohammed V.

Princess Aisha herself proceeded to lead a determinedly emancipated life. She rode a horse in Western fashion, astride; her tastes in music leaned toward Benny Goodman rather than the reedy tunes of Araby; she indulged her preference for bikini bathing suits while disdaining the traditional Moslem veil. Her one notable concession to conservative convention was a promise to her father to marry any man he chose for her. (“I have complete confidence in the King. Love will come after marriage.”)

The old King died last February without redeeming his daughter’s pledge. It was up to the new King, Aisha’s 32-year-old brother Hassan II, to see her married. Hassan II acted swiftly. He sent word that it was his pleasure for Aisha and her two sisters, Malika, 28, and Fatima Zorah, 32, to marry expeditiously; the choice of husbands was left to them. Each woman promptly said yes to a suitor. Malika, who runs the Red Crescent Society (Moslem equivalent of the Red Cross), became engaged to Rabat’s smooth Ambassador to France, Mohammed ben Abdallah Cherkaoui, 40; shy Fatima Zorah picked Prince Moulay Ali el Alaoui, 38, a first cousin and the royal family’s shrewdest business brain. Princess Aisha’s choice: El Hassan ben Abdelaziz al Yakoubi, 27 (Aisha is 31), a handsome gentleman farmer whose wealthy businessman father is an old friend of the royal family.

The triple wedding in Rabat’s ornate Riad Palace last week was a fairly traditional Moslem affair. But King Hassan II departed from ancient convention: he wore a dark business suit while looking on from his pink throne. The three princesses all went through intricate prenuptial purification ceremonies, including a ritual dousing administered by female attendants. At the ceremony itself, they all wore veils. For Lalla Aisha, especially, the choice of husbands seemed felicitous. Her husband, Hassan al Yakoubi, is known as a widely traveled, fun-loving sportsman, more accustomed than most Moroccan men to the ways of emancipated women.