True Left

The famed Cullinan Diamond will adorn the Queen consort's headdress, replacing India's Ko Hi Noor diamond
after claims it bought back painful memories of the colonial past. Some South Africans are enraged, demanding the Royal Family return the jewel. Also, Mali's ruling Junta sets June 18th as the date for a referendum on a new constitution. And after years of service with the French military, Senegalese veterans return to their families with military pension.

From Kohinoor to Star of Africa, Former British Colonies Want Their Jewels Back | Firstpost Unpacked

When King Charles is coronated on May 6, he will hold the royal sceptre - with a diamond that was stolen from South Africa. The Koh-i-Noor diamond will not be part of the crown but it has raised questions about the Royal Family's stolen jewels. Former British colonies like India and South Africa now want them back. Watch to find out more​​

King visibly moved as horse bred by Queen Elizabeth wins at Royal Ascot
...
The King was visibly moved as he watched Desert Hero, an 18-1 shot bred by the late monarch win the King George V Stakes and “keep her dream alive” at her favourite racing event.

An emotional Charles celebrated his winner in the Royal box alongside Queen Camilla, who wiped away tears next to a smiling Princess Anne in a touching display of solidarity.

The late Queen was besotted with the sport, enjoying 24 Royal Ascot winners across six decades and always proudly celebrating her horses.

She was an enthusiastic owner and breeder of thoroughbreds during her 70-year reign and attended every Ascot up until last year when she opted to watch the racing meet on the television from Windsor Castle.

It marked the first time during her reign that she did not attend the event in person - and her son is now showing his determination to take up the mantle.
...
“And the horses are the main game really. That’s why we get involved and love them, and the competition. That adrenaline. It’s indescribable.”

prior to ascending to the throne, Mohammed VI "gained a reputation as a playboy during the years he spent waiting in the wings, showing a fondness for fast cars and nightclubs."[15]
...
In January 2017, Morocco banned the manufacturing, marketing and sale of the burqa.[21]
...
Morocco and Israel restored diplomatic relations on 10 December 2020, as part of the Israel–Morocco normalization agreement
...
In June 2021, Mohammed congratulated Naftali Bennett on his election as Israeli prime minister.[58]
...
Protests broke out in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, on 2 August 2013, after Mohammed pardoned 48 jailed Spaniards, including Daniel Galván, a **** who had been serving a 30-year sentence for raping 11 children aged between 4 and 15.[83]

In 1962, Hassan II and his aides wrote the Kingdom of Morocco's first constitution, defining the kingdom as a social and democratic constitutional monarchy
...
Hassan II was alleged to have covertly cooperated with the State of Israel and Israeli intelligence.[70][71] In Operation Yachin, he allowed over 97,000 Moroccan Jews to be migrated to Israel from 1961 to 1964  in exchange for weapons and training for Morocco's security forces and intelligence agencies.[70][72] In an arrangement financed by the American Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), Hassan II was paid a sum of $500,000 along with $100 for each of the first 50,000 Moroccan Jews to be migrated to Israel, and $250 for each Jewish emigrant thereafter.[73][74][72]
...
According to Shlomo Gazit during an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, then-leader of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Hassan II invited Mossad and Shin Bet agents to bug the Casablanca hotel where the Arab League Summit of September 1965 would be held to record the conversations of the Arab leaders and helped Israel win the Six-Day War.[75][70] This information was instrumental in Israel's victory in the Six-Day War. Ronen Bergman claimed in his book, Rise And Kill First, that Israeli intelligence then supplied information leading to Mehdi Ben Barka's capture and assassination in October.[76] Bergman also alleged that the Moroccan DST and Mossad collaborated in a 1996 plot to assassinate Osama bin Laden
...
Hassan II was close with Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran, even hosting him in 1979 when he was exiled.[83]

At the time of Mohammed's enthronement, the French colonial authorities were "pushing for a more assertive 'native policy.'"[4] On 16 May 1930, Sultan Muhammad V signed the Berber Dahir, which changed the legal system in parts of Morocco where Berber languages were primarily spoken (Bled es-Siba), while the legal system in the rest of the country (Bled al-Makhzen) remained the way it had been before the French invasion.[4][5] Although the sultan was under no duress, he was only 20 years old.[4] This dhahir "electrified the nation"; it was sharply criticized by Moroccan nationalists and catalyzed the Moroccan Nationalist Movement.[4]
...
most scholars stress the benevolence of Mohammed V toward the Jews" during the Vichy era.[7] Mohammed reportedly refused to sign off on efforts by Vichy officials to impose anti-Jewish legislation upon Morocco
...
Mohammed is highly esteemed by Moroccan Jews who credit him for protecting their community from the Nazi and Vichy French government,[6] and Mohammed V has been honored by Jewish organizations for his role in protecting his Jewish subjects during the Holocaust.[10]

Under colonial rule the institution of the sultan was formally preserved as part of a French policy of indirect rule, or at least the appearance of indirect rule. Under the French Protectorate, the 'Alawi sultans still had some prerogatives such as the power to sign or veto dahirs (decrees). In the Spanish zone, a Khalifa ("deputy") was appointed who acted as a representative of the sultan. In practice, however, the sultan was a puppet of the new regime and many parts of the population saw the dynasty as collaborators with the French. The French colonial administration was headed by the French resident-general, the first of whom was Hubert Lyautey, who enacted many of the policies that set the tone for France's colonial regime in Morocco.[39][46]