IMG University of Leeds, 2- 5 July 2018. The Constant and the Changed in the Traditions of Royal Marriage in Morocco: The Alawi Dynasty, 1672- Present. Dr. Fatima Rhorchi Moulay Ismail University Meknes, Morocco The Muslim Sultanian harem is generally regarded as the most prestigious but also the most firmly concealed spheres of the kingdom. This prestige and mystery has attracted historians' attention to this object of study at an early stage. However, the Sultanian harems in the Maghreb are on the contrary much less studied than the generic institution of the harem. Historians have tended to take for granted a principle of opacity concerning the life of the harem, the idea that there was a world by definition private, inaccessible to knowledge. 1 According to Nicolas Michel's otherwise well-researched study of pre-colonial Morocco, ‘the desire to absolutely conceal the private life of the Sultan from outsiders was consistent with the customs of good society, and gave the palace a very different image of the European courts, founded on the contrary on the public character of all acts, including family of the sovereign.’ 2 In Morocco, marriage ceremonies within the Alawi Dynasty have always constituted one of the occasions in which the meticulously safeguarded ancestral heritage is and thoroughly carried out and proudly displayed as a symbol of continuity and legitimacy. 3 It is a legacy that usually dates back to five centuries, the first of which was under the reign of Sultan Moulay Ismail (1672- 1727) the founding father of the current royal dynasty in Morocco. Late King Hassan II (1961- 1999) is considered the monarch who was keen on reviving many of the rituals and customs of great significance and symbolism. 4 Some researchers consider that the spirit and essence of this institutional building tradition established by the late King, is summarized in Moulay Abderrahman Ben Zidan (1878- 1946), the Historian of the Alawi dynasty’s book "al- Izz wa Sawla fi ma3alimi nodom al-dawla" (the splendor and sublimity in the state’s systems). The latter did not overlook the theme of celebrations of princes, princesses and weddings of the royal court, and summarized it with a separate paragraph and supplements that describe the details of royal customs in weddings. 5 “Attending one of the wedding parties inside the palace Will make you think that you have traveled a long time to the past. All aspects of the old celebration are restored, "says one source. 6 However, along these five centuries certain traditions have been modified, adapted or completely abandoned. Hence the purpose of the present paper is to identify the Constant and the Changed in the traditions of royal marriage in Morocco since the reign of Moulay Ismail (1672- 1727) until the reign of Mohamed the VI, the current monarch. (Picture 2)