Imelda Marcos is back in the limelight, with a character in the historical drama "The Crown" mentioning her name in a recent episode.
In the scene, Princess Margaret, the Countess of Snowdon (Helena Bonham Carter), was talking to other royals, recounting her visit to the Philippines in 1980.
“So, there we are in Manila, in the middle of a state banquet, when who barges into the room? None other than Imelda Marcos," she said.
"She makes a beeline straight for me, saying she’s desperate to show me her… wait for it…” Princess Margaret paused for effect.
“Shoe collection,” Princess Anne (Erin Doherty) interjected.
Princess Margaret corrected her: “Shell collection.”
The royals laughed, while Prince Philip (Tobias Menzies) suggested that Marcos probably had something in her teeth at the time and Princess Margaret simply misunderstood her.
“She was probably trying to say ‘shoe,’ and you misunderstood her,” he said.
But Princess Margaret insisted: “No, I can assure you, it was seashells.”
Of course, the conversation might be a product of the writer's imagination but the daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth really did meet with the wife of Ferdinand Marcos in 1980.
The show, created by Peter Morgan and produced by Left Bank Pictures and Sony Pictures Television for Netflix is is about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.