Lhe 58-year-old monarch, accompanied by Crown Prince Moulay el-Hassan, led the Eid al-Adha prayer – the so-called festival of sacrifice marking the end of the hajj in Mecca – at the royal palace in Salé, near Rabat. “After the prayer, the ruler proceeded to the ritual of sacrifice, following the tradition of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,” the official MAP news agency reported. The ceremony took place “in a private setting and with very limited assistance” in order to respect the preventive measures in force to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, said MAP. Dressed in a yellow djellaba, the “Commander of the Faithful” appeared emaciated but smiling at the end of the prayer, alongside his eldest son, Prince Moulay el-Hassan (19), and his younger brother, the Prince Moulay Rachid (52), according to images broadcast by public television.
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The end of a sequence started by a virus contracted in France
On June 16, the sovereign’s new personal doctor, Lahcen Belyamani, announced that Mohammed VI had tested positive for Covid-19, in an asymptomatic form. He had prescribed “a period of rest for a few days”. During his convalescence, the sovereign nevertheless continued to send formal messages and speeches on a regular basis. According to the weekly Young Africathe King of Morocco contracted the virus in France, where he had arrived for a private visit on 1er June. Since the start of the pandemic, in March 2020, Mohammed VI had only made one trip abroad, to Gabon, in December 2021.
The state of health of the Alaouite monarch arouses great interest among Moroccans and beyond the borders of the kingdom. He underwent heart surgery at the clinic of the royal palace in Rabat in June 2020, after a first intervention in January 2018 in Paris. Mohammed VI has reigned over Morocco since July 1999, when he succeeded his father, Hassan II.
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