The Ministry of the Royal Household has announced that King Mohammed VI will no longer celebrate his birthday with the official annual ceremony at the royal palace.
The celebration is traditionally held every August 21, which also marks the celebration of Youth Day, commemorating the youths’ contribution to Morocco’s liberation.
It also follows the celebration of the king and the people’s revolution on August 20, which commemorates the resistance of Moroccans to French colonialism and their uprising led by late King Mohammed V.
The decision comes a few months after the Ministry of the Royal Household called on institutions across Morocco to commemorate the Throne Day without undue extravagance on July 30, which marked this year two decades since King Mohammed VI’s reign.
Morocco first celebrated Youth Day in July 1956, four months after liberating the Kingdom. Crown Prince Moulay Hassan’s first birthday was chosen to mark this day.
“When Morocco first celebrated the Youth Day in the independence era in 1956, it was a great celebration that has become historic,” said Ahmad Bensouda, minister of youth in the Moroccan government of 1956.
“For the first time in Morocco’s freedom and independence, young people met from all over the Kingdom to celebrate their icon Prince Moulay Hassan’s birthday,” he added, noting that it marked a beginning to their determination and will to build their country and fight the greatest battle.
“I was then minister of youth, and the slogan chosen by late King Mohammed V for that day was (Youth Day).”
“The King gave the celebration of Morocco’s youth a symbol and content embodied in what the Crown Prince represented, including the ambition and will.”
He further noted that the celebration was a way to express creativity and the amount of production young people are capable of achieving.
When King Mohammed VI of Morocco took office in 1999, he maintained the tradition of celebrating Youth Day and changed its date from July 9 (King Hassan II’s birthday) to August 21, King Mohammed VI’s birthday.
