Trivia

In July 1966, her husband was infamously snubbed by The Beatles, who were in the country on tour, when they did not accept an invitation to join the First Lady for breakfast. The famous no-show was televised nationally and public backlash towards The Beatles forced them to leave the Philippines immediately.

Passed a screen test with Fred Montilla conducted by director Olive La Torre. However, her parents refused their permission for her to enter become an actress, dashing her hopes of movie stardom.

Subject of the song "2000 Shoes" by the British band 'Big Audio Dynamite'. The song is included in the 1988 album, "Tighten Up, Vol. 88". Also mentioned in that song are Muammar Gaddafi, George Hamilton and Zedong Mao.

While serving as the First Lady of the Philippines, she was instrumental in the establishment of the Cultural Center of the Philippines; Philippine Heart Center; Lung Center of the Philippines; Kidney Institute of the Philippines, Nayong Pilipino; Philippine International Convention Center; Folk Arts Theater; and the infamous Manila Film Center.

Grandson Martin "Borgy" Manotoc (Imee's son) is one of the most in-demand models in the Philippines.

Owns fashion line "Imelda Collection" with her eldest daughter, Maria Imelda (Imee) as designer. Products include jewelry, clothing and shoes.

To this day, in popular media whenever the wife of a dictator is being depicted for the purposes of satire (be it in cartoons, sitcoms, etc.) a large collection of shoes appears to be a functional characteristic, in reference to Imelda.

Mother of three: Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (aka "Bong Bong"), born September 13, 1957; Imee, born November 12, 1955; and Irene, September 16, 1960. Also has an adopted daughter, Aimee.

When the Philippines hosted the 1974 Miss Universe Pageant, she had the cities of Manila and Baguio City painted to welcome the visitors and candidates.

In the "Madam & Eve" cartoon where South African President Thabo Mbeki is shopping for a second-hand executive jet, the salesman introduces an aircraft owned a by "a little old lady" -- Imelda Marcos. The plane has 1000 pairs of shoes on board.

As a Special Envoy of the Philippines, she was instrumental in the opening of Philippine diplomatic relations with China, the Soviet Union, and the Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe (Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, etc.), Middle East, Libya, and Cuba, in the securing of a cheap supply of oil from China and Libya; and in the signing of the Tripoli Agreement.

Was elected as member of the 165-member Interim Batasang Pambansa (National Assembly) representing the National Capital Region in 1978.

On December 7, 1972, an assailant tried to stab her to death with a knife during an awards ceremony broadcast live on television. The assailant was shot to death by security police; the wounds on her hands and arms required 75 stitches.

When her husband declared martial law in 1972, she assumed a public role in the government. She was appointed to various positions in the government, to name a few: Governor of Metropolitan Manila (now Metro Manila); Minister of Human Settlement; and Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary.

She met then-Congressman (and future husband) Ferdinand Marcos in 1954. After a whirlwind courtship in Baguio City, Philippines during Holy Week, they were married in May of that year at the Manila Cathedral Church with President Ramon Magsaysay as principal sponsor.

Husband Ferdinand Marcos became the 10th President of the Philippines in 1965. Together with Imelda, he would rule the Philippines for more than 20 years.

She also became a beauty queen. At the age of 18, she was crowned the "Rose of Tacloban," became "Miss Leyte", went to Manila in 1953, and was named the "Muse of Manila" by then Manila Mayor, Arsenio Lacson, after she protested her loss in the Miss Manila pageant.

Her extensive shoe collection is world-renowned. When her family fled the Philippines in 1986 during a popular revolt, she left a treasure trove containing jewelry, some 1,500 pairs of shoes, dresses, and paintings by the masters.

Fled with her husband Ferdinand Marcos, children, and closest associates for Hawaii in 1986 when a bloodless, military-backed popular revolt ended his 20-year rule in the Philippines. The Marcos heirs returned to the Philippines after the former president died in exile in Hawaii in 1989, despite a clutch of graft cases filed against them and civil suits against the Marcos estate, variously estimated to be worth about $10 billion.

Daughter of Vicente Orestes Romualdez and Dona Remedios Trinidad. Her ancestors founded the town of Tolosa, Leyte. Father was a scholarly man interested in music and culture while her mother was a dressmaker who grew up in an orphanage.

Earned a bachelor's degree in education at St Paul's College in Leyte.

Born and grew up in Manila near Malacañang Palace, but family moved back to Leyte, her maternal ancestor's place, when her mother died and their Manila home was foreclosed. She later moved to Manila where she later became a resident of Malacanan, the official residence of the President of the Philippines.