The Sexiest Filipino Superstars in the World

from Manila and famously known in the Spanish Press as "La Reina del Glamour" ("The Queen of Glamour") in Spain, supermodel, journalist, and fashion designer in Madrid, mother of Enrique Iglesias, Julio Iglesias Jr., and Chabeli Iglesias

New! 9/16 - Added 3rd page to English translation of Hola! Feature - check it out below!

Isabel was born on 18th February 1951 in Manila, Philippines, the third of six children to a wealthy conservative family. During her youth, the stunningly beautiful Isabel modeled at charity fashion shows and was crowned queen of a Manila beauty pageant.

At the age of 18 she was sent to study in Spain, and it was at a Madrid party in 1970 that she was introduced to then up-and-coming singer Julio Iglesias. The couple announced their engagement just seven months later and were married for seven years, during which time they had three children, Chabeli, Julio Jr and Enrique.

Following their divorce in 1978, Isabel launched her own career as a journalist for Spanish magazine Hola! and her first interviewee was Julio himself. She married the Marquis de Grignon, Carlos Falco, on 23rd March 1980, a short-lived marriage which blessed her with a second daughter, Tamara, and has since married Spanish finance minister, Miguel Boyer, with whom she has another daughter Ana.

Often dubbed "La Perla De Manila" by the Spanish media ("The Pearl of Manila"), readers at Hola magazine's website have voted Isabel as one of the most elegant and best-dressed women in Spain, and she has consistently topped the best-dressed lists over the years in various Spanish magazines. In 1984, she hosted the Spanish lifestyle TV programme, "Hoy." She has been chosen by several companies to be an image sponsor for their products, including Ferrero Rocher, Suarez jewellery, and, most notably, the Spanish tile company, Porcelanosa. In May 2001, she was Prince Charles' guest of honour for the opening of his Spanish Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show in England. Most recently she launched her official website, www.isabelpreysler.com, at the suggestion of her son Enrique.

Hola!, the leading publication of Spain and Latin America, has a feature dedicated just for her, it's in Spanish, and basically it describes her life and career as a supermodel, journalist, TV Show host, and celebrity in Spain, and how now, in 2004, she has expanded her empire to include a clothing line, a perfume line, a home furnishings line, and a new website, (she's a mogul unto herself in Spain, kind of like "J-Lo") described to the right, and about her relationships and her friendships, including her husband Miguel Boyer, whom she has a

daughter with, and her whirlwind romance and marriage with her ex-husband, famous Spanish singing star Julio Iglesias during the 70s. It also has a special about how she manages to stay looking so beautiful and radiant as a woman in her 50's. I'm working on an English translation of the article, check it out below! But if you want to find out more about her, just simply do a google or yahoo search on her, and you'll get a million results as this beautiful Filipina woman from Manila is a huge celebrity in Spain and all over the Spanish-speaking world. In the press, as "La Reina Del Glamour"

(The Queen of Glamour) in Spain, she is also referred to as "La Perla De Manila" (The Pearl from Manila). She is absolutely fascinating, and many of us Filipinos are not aware of how huge of an institution she is in Spain, when Enrique Iglesias was first starting his music career, he was always referred to by the Spanish media as "Isabel and Julio's kid." All celebrities refer to her in interviews, the Spanish papers, Spanish television, the Spanish media, whenever a Spanish celebrity is interviewed, if they want to cite an example of elegance and beauty, they always refer to Isabel Preysler. Absolutely fascinating, read it! (It's in Spanish, I'm working on an English translation right now, check it out below!)

Another part of the interview also talks about her celebrity and she talks about how she was a little put off at first by her celebrity, but how she's gotten used to being a public figure and all the public and the media scrutiny and interest in her private life. The paparazzi in Spain has a field day with her life, and with the lives of all members of the Preysler-Iglesias-Boyer dynasty, and they nickpit and criticize everything about their lives. She's such a huge star that when she had a minor injury on her neck due to a car accident, it made all the front paper news in Spain, including Hola!, which still has an article about it on their website. Anyway, check it out! It's fascinating! http://www.hola.com/famosos/especiales/preysler/index.html

Here is an English translation of the first 3 pages that I've been working on:

ISABEL PREYSLER

Destiny has delivered fame, celebrity, and an important social position to her, and though the pressures of the media and constant public scrutiny about her private life at times can make her uncomfortable, she has been the protagonist of and carried out her role in the public eye for 30 years now, with hardly a complaint. And now, one bundles up with a singular biography. With the fame of being a myth, an enigma and a social phenomenon that she

can not explain, but nor has she looked for either.

TO BE NUMBER ONE HAS IT'S PRICE

At the end of the week, Isabel Preysler turns 50. She enjoys a privileged social situation, and still intact is her feminity, seductiveness, and her charisma. However, to be number one has it's price, and years ago, she got tired of paying for it. Therefore, she has spaced her public appearances, she is not interested anymore in society celebrations, does not spend her summers in Marbella anymore, and hardly ever grants public interviews. On the contrary, she takes pains to make sure that she is soaked of the intelligence of her husband, Miguel Boyer, everyday and tries to

live a life beyond her popularity. He tells her interesting stories, sends her flowers, porcelain, paintings, takes her on cultural trips, and once in a while, to celebrate a special occasion, jewelry a bit ostentatious.

Un Ama De Casa
She does not consider herself beautiful nor intelligent. Neither does she consider herself an idiot, overambitious, or calculating. She is "un ama de casa" (there is no English translation for that that would give it the same exact meaning culturally, think of how your mother always seems to be able to micromanage the family's various affairs as head of the house while still being able to pull through with responsibility and dignity intact, it's like that.).

She has endured criticism before, which has armed her with patience; a quality she possesses in bountiful amounts.

Isabel Preysler, a truly maternal woman, always had the same objective in life - to protect her children from the margin of personal problems and scandal that could affect them. Knowing full well that with her children, it is not necessary to move the world to be content and happy in life, Mrs. Boyer knew how to handle the most difficult moments of her life without affecting her family's roots and her children's upbringing. "The upbringing of children of divorced parents," Isabel explains in an Hola! Interview after her second divorce, "does not bring unresolvable problems, however I believe that the presence and guidance of the mother, more so than the father, is more fundamental especially during infancy and during the first few years of the lives of the children. For that reason, I was never seperated from my children during their childhood."

And thus it was. Isabel raised her children and later, concerned about their safety (after their grandfather was kidnapped for ransom in Madrid, Spain, and the political upheaval in Spain) and education, her children flew from her side (to Miami, Florida). First Ch�beli, Julio Jr., and Enrique, and later, Tamara. Now, within a few years, her youngest daughter Ana will follow suit. "To bring a child into the world is the most important experience for a man and a woman. I have always been made complete through my children. They are an essential part of me, and they bring me such joy and happiness. I am lucky to have five marvelous children."

For many years now, she has consistently topped the best-dressed lists of the most stylish women of our country (Spain). And that's logical, because of her impeccable image - always choosing the most appropiate style and mode for each occasion, Isabel never scrimps five minutes off in dedicating herself to her skin, body, and hair. In correspondence with Hola's 50th anniversary, hola.com celebrates those regiments that without a doubt help Isabel to stay healthy and in trim shape.

Breakfast. When Isabel wakes up, she drinks a glass of water and has a consistent breakfast of: mashed fruit with yogurt, tea without sugar, and toast with butter, jam or honey.

Her Delicacy. At noon, Isabel eats light. For merienda, nevertheless, one makes up for it with aromatic teas, accompanied with sponge cake. "I am very golosa and I do not resist sponge cake nor chocolate. I am almost an addict to chocolate, there is always a chocolate bar in the refrigerator. I need it to be there. When I like it the most is after meals, and after dinner".

Dinner. For Dinner, she has a complete meal. Isabel usually dines on soups, vegetables, fish or pasta. She loves, for example, soup of vegetable cream, and "pasta integral biol�gica" with tomatoes homegrown in her house, with a base of salsa natural, garnished with tomatoes biol�gica and mixed with cheese.

In Shape. Isabel Preysler combines physical exercise with relaxing activities. Once a week, she either relaxes, plays p�del, or golf. For the rest of the week, she alternates the practice of these sports with an exercise regiment of stair-climbing, stretching exercises, and weight lifting.

Her regiment. When Isabel Preysler feels that she has eaten too much heavy food, the following day she compensates for it with a light food regiment. "I spend the whole day eating fruit. It is the best way to cleanse out the system and to recover. Experts say that it is advisable that day to consume a single type of fruit, without mixing it with others. And depending on the season, I like to eat apples or pi�as. So I don't get bored, I prepare it in different ways. Sometimes, I cut it up into six pieces ".

Her skin. She makes it a priority to take care of her skin, and once a week, in addition to a rigorous, therapeutic massage, she goes to the Beauty Center of Massumeh Massi, in Madrid, for a facial. Since she spent a lot of time out in the sun when she was growing up, she says that 40 years is enough for her. She does not leave the house without a sunscreen of UV 20 or 30 and when she is at the beach, she protects herself totally from the sun.

Her hair. In addition to maintaining her image, Isabel Preysler also makes it a priority to take care of her hair. "My hair has very little grace, it's straight, without body, so I have to wash it only every other day. For that reason, I use only natural products. It's very important for me to keep it healthy and clean, because the hair says a lot about a person." (There's a lot more to come from this article...Stay tuned!)

This is a website that features all her various ventures with her new fashion clothing line, her new perfume line, her new home furnishings and design line, as well as some tips on cooking and entertaining at dinner parties, for which she

is famously known for in Spain, for holding some of the most elegant, all out, glamourous dinner parties among the rich, elite, socialites in Spain.

It also features a full pictorial history of her life and family growing up in the Philippines, upon her arrival in Spain in 1969, her rise and success as a supermodel in Spain and Europe during the 70s, her marriage to Julio Iglesias in 1971, and the birth of her children, Chabeli, Julio Jr., and her youngest child with Julio, Enrique Iglesias (whom she named after her brother, Enrique Preysler, who died in a car accident in Manila when she was just a child). It also has pictures of her two youngest daughters, Ana and Tamara.

It also features her latest appearances at some of the most important social functions in Spain, she is always called upon as sort of an ambassador to Spain. The latest one (Sep04) features supermodel Claudia Schiffer, Carmen Mart�nez Bord�u, Isabel Sartorius, Eugenia Mart�nez de Irujo, and Isabel having cocktails at her Porcelanosa grand opening party in Ibiza. When international football star David Beckham and his wife, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham visited Spain, the most publicized event by the English and Spanish papers during their visit to Spain was their visit to Isabel Preysler's house for a dinner party. During Isabel Preysler's visit to England, the most publicized event in the Spanish and English papers was her friendship with Victoria Beckham (which is why they decided to dine with her in Spain.)

BECKHAMS' NEW FRIEND
UK (CONTACT MUSIC) - Victoria Beckham has forged a new
friendship with fellow pop star Enrique Lglesias's
mother, Isabel Preysler. Victoria was invited to a
plush society dinner party at Preysler's home along
with her football superstar husband David Beckham, after
originally meeting up in Britain prior to David's move
to Real Madrid this summer.

A source says, "Isabel met Victoria in London before
she moved to Madrid and they got on like a house on
fire." Present at the dinner party last week were
Enrique, Spanish Prime Minister's daughter Ana Aznar
and various aristocrats and models. The source adds,
"The creme de la creme of Spanish society was there.
Isabel is Madrid's premier hostess."

It has also has some beautiful pictures of her as a supermodel, and also pictures of her children, 5 in all. One picture that really made me smile was a picture she took with Enrique and Julio Jr. dressed in traditional Filipino costumes for the "Tinikling" dance, and one of her daughter Chabeli dressed in traditional "Maria Clara" wear. Isn't that neat? Check it out!