![]() ![]() The governess forced me into the guest room and double-locked the door. Tearing me away from my mother meant tearing me away from my life. I remember my mother leaving hurriedly, then I was bundled into a car and driven to the Villa Yasmina where Lalla Mina lived with her governess, Jeanne Rieffel. ![]() “What happened next,” writes Malika, “is a blur in my mind, as if I were the victim of a kidnapping:” “I can think of no one better as a playmate, as a sister for my Lalla Mina than your daughter. Īt the end of the meal, Mohammed V came over to Malika’s mother: “Fatima, I’m going to ask you something that you can’t refuse me,” he said. The slaves served the meal and the most exquisite dishes filed past. Then everyone flocked to the tables and the King sat down alone at his. ![]() He gave me a simple hug and said a few kind words. When it was her turn to greet him, my mother kissed his hand and introduced me to him. King Mohammed V made his entrance from the left, in accordance with custom. Malika would write later of that first day in the palace: What followed for Malika was a fairy tale childhood that ended in a desert jail, the miraculous escape from which forms the dramatic ending to this book. Against the child’s wishes, the king got his wish. The first time young Malika and her mother were invited to visit the royal palace, the king asked to adopt her. ![]()
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