Catholic Online Forum

Imelda Marcos: a name synonymous with wealth, greed and excess.

During her husband's 20 years as Philippine president, she amassed a huge collection of art, jewellery, property and - most famously - at least 1,000 pairs of shoes.

Paintings by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Rembrandt, Rafael and Michelangelo; palatial homes in the US and the Philippines; silver tableware, gold necklaces, diamond tiaras - the Marcoses collected the best the world had to offer.

When they were ousted in a "People Power" revolution in 1986, Philippine investigators estimated their wealth at about $10bn (£6.2bn).

The next president, Corazon Aquino, set up a special commission to recover these funds for the government coffers - but now, more than 25 years later, just $4bn has been accounted for.

So what happened to rest of the Marcos collection?

Maybe the full Marcos collection will never be found. Maybe the missing paintings will remain in private homes, stores and bank vaults around the world.

As for Mrs Marcos, she is now in her 80s but still as strong and flamboyant as ever - and still a keen art collector.

During one of my interviews with her, I asked for a photograph as a keepsake.

We posed next to a painting. "Wow, is that a Picasso?" I asked. "Yes," she said proudly.