Imelda Marcos

As her husband scaled the political ladder, Imelda Marcos’ lifestyle started being compared to that of another famous and fashionable first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy.

The couple have three children together, two of whom are now politicians. They are Imee, Irene and Ferdinand Jr., who is also fondly known as ‘Bongbong’.

While many Filipinos lived in scarcity and poverty, she became notorious for her extravagant spending, which often included expenses up to 5 million dollars or more in one go. She travelled to New York and other fancy destinations around the world to splurge on property and fashion.

Imelda Remedios Visitacion Romualdez was born in Manila, the capital of the Philippines and is the oldest daughter of Vicente Orestes Romualdez, a lawyer and Remedios T. Romualdez, a former boarder at a convent in Manila.

Young Imelda spent her childhood at the Malacanang Palace. After her mother passed away in 1938, she attended an all-girls school, Holy Infant Academy in Tacloban, where she studied English among other subjects. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from St. Paul’s College.

From a very young age, she was fascinated by beauty pageants and dreamt of living an extremely extravagant lifestyle. She soon entered a number of beauty pageants and was crowned, ‘Rose of Tacloban’ at the age of 18. She also earned the title of ‘Miss Philippines’.

In 1950, she moved to Manila and worked in music stores and began taking voice lessons at the University of Santo Tomas. She became popular with the students and the crowds as she was believed to be an extremely gifted singer.

In 1953, sShe appeared on a number of magazine covers and her popularity increased. She was also named the ‘Muse of Manila’ by the mayor of Philippines. In the same year, she met Ferdinand E. Marcos and after eleven day courtship, they got married in the month of May at the San Miguel Pro-Cathedral on General Solano street, San Miguel, Manila.

From 1960 to 1965, she travelled around the country in a bid to meet and acquaint herself with the politicians, who could help her husband, Ferdinand, rise to power. In 1966, Ferdinand Marcos became the 10th President of the Philippines.

As the first lady, Imelda met a number of world leaders, from the U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson to Cuban leader, Fidel Castro. She sought parliamentary opportunities for herself in addition to supporting her spouse with his duties.

In the mid-1970s, Marcos served as the governor of the metro Manila area. She systematized many costly remodeling and development projects and later, served in the provisional national assembly as the minister of human settlements.

When this famous First Lady from the Philippines fled to Hawaii, she left behind a treasure’s chest containing jewelry worth millions, innumerable pairs of branded shoes, dresses and expensive paintings.