Beauties chosen by dictators or "first ladies of hell"

Modern authoritarian leaders can be criticized for anything, but not for the choice of wives. These women (with rare exceptions) are loyal, reliable companions, advisers and protectors of their husbands, sometimes even able to soften the attitude towards them in the world. Not to mention that they are all just beauties.

Lady of the DPRK

They say that the more you are secretive, the more gossip is born - this is what happened to the young Ri Sol-ju, who somehow suddenly turned out to be the wife of Kim Jong-un. There were rumors, for example, that she starred in a home video and that before marrying the chubby "god of the nation" she led a promiscuous life. Then they even wrote that he allegedly executed her! Fortunately, her recent photos have refuted this.





What is remarkable: a free (for North Korean) manner of dress (in her wardrobe there are both short skirts and transparent blouses), so under her influence, the country's women also try to "fashionable". And she also refused to wear the mandatory badges with portraits of Kim Jong-un's father and grandfather. In the DPRK, they found a beautiful explanation for this - they say, there are no other men for her except her husband.





Lady Syria

Today, the wife of President Assad, hated by the West, is under fire, and in former quiet times she was praised for her secularism, education and impeccable taste. Indeed, Asma al-Assad is a very European Muslim, because she was born in London, studied there, met her future husband there and moved to her historical homeland only in 2000, when she was already 25. Moreover, she retained British citizenship.









What is remarkable: in 2011, a grandiose scandal broke out in the media because of it. American Vogue published a positive article about Asma (allegedly at the request of Assad's PR people), this caused a storm of anger, the article was deleted, and its author was fired, despite 30 years of experience in the editorial office. Later, the same journalist burst out in another publication with a sharply negative article about Asma, calling her the "first lady of hell", but in the end she herself was ridiculed by her colleagues.





Lady Angola

Ana Paula dos Santos is a former fashion model and flight attendant on "board number one", where the epochal acquaintance with the head of state Jose Eduardo took place. One foreign diplomat once said of the leading couple: "A beautiful couple. They are dressed elegantly and expensively and look like they live in California."





What is remarkable: once Ana Paula outraged citizens, saying that the level of education in Angola is too poor, so her son will study at a foreign school (this is despite the fact that her husband is just accused of not giving a damn about this area). And it also irritates officials and the population with ambitions in politics and business (especially diamond).









Lady Jordan

Somehow it is hard to believe that this woman represents a deeply religious Muslim country in the Middle East. You can imagine, at the age of 22, she was aiming for a management position at Apple (the Jordanian subsidiary, but still)! Nevertheless, Rania Al-Abdullah calls herself a "true Arab woman" and willingly enlightens the Western public on the topic of the Arab world and Islam.





What is remarkable: of course, her beauty (she is called "the most beautiful queen on the planet"), extraordinary elegance (once she was chosen as the "Queen of Elegance of the World", rejecting the candidacies of top models, actresses and other stars), as well as a bunch of good deeds. She actively defends the rights of women, children and families, fights against stupid prohibitions, protects fellow Palestinians and even protects animals.





Lady Cameroon

And look here: this bright lady in all respects is Chantal Biya, the wife of the President of Cameroon, Paul Biya. She is almost 40 years younger than her husband (he is 82, she is 44).





A Cameroonian author wrote a book about her, where, judging by the reaction that followed, he depicted her life as a path "from rags to riches." He was accused of insulting the heroine and sentenced to 2 years in prison, which outraged world human rights activists, who called him a "prisoner of conscience."





What is remarkable: first of all, of course, a unique hairstyle and an exotic style, which is called "a la Chantal". She adores Dior and Chanel, and many of her wardrobe items are tailor-made. And she is also a very socialite lady: she willingly participates in various meetings, gatherings, high-level events and organizes many of them herself.





Lady Azerbaijan

Mehriban Aliyeva, the daughter of one of the most influential clans in the country, is a doctor by education and the wife of Ilham Aliyev. Although the Azerbaijani regime is considered authoritarian and the ruling family is suspected of, to put it mildly, misuse of the treasury, the attitude towards the first lady personally is the most positive. There are even honorary foreign awards.





What is noteworthy: active public activity both within the country and in the international part (she heads a lot of foundations, is a goodwill ambassador of the UN, UNESCO, a number of Islamic organizations and, unexpectedly, the president of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation). Plus, he is also a member of parliament.





Lady Swaziland

The 47-year-old King of Swaziland, Mswati III, currently has 15 wives, but we will focus on one, the 12th in a row: the young beauty Ntando Duba. If you believe the media, then all these are her portraits:









And here she is without makeup, but with her polygamous husband:

What is remarkable: in the 5th year of marriage, she cheated on her husband with his own Minister of Justice. This story is worthy of a Shakespearean play: here is an unfaithful wife making her way past the palace guards, disguised as a guardsman, then her lover is found under her bed (and not just on the floor, but under the bottom, in a hole in the lining!), the guilty woman is put under house arrest, but she escapes from the guard, spraying him in the face with pepper spray. In the end, she is expelled from the palace, and the cunning minister (with the wonderful surname Mamba) is fired and imprisoned. Curtain.

We do not know whether the deceived husband suffered greatly, but he certainly has someone to console himself with - the remaining wives are miraculously good! And these are just two of them.







Hitler's favorite

No, no, not Eva Braun, but the most luxurious Olga Chekhova (nee Knipper), a Russian actress with German roots.In 1920, she left Soviet Russia for Germany, by the 30s she was already a star of German cinema, and then, as a favorite actress, accompanied the Führer at social events. She was also admired by Goebbels, who called her "charming Frau" in his diaries.





After the war, information began to appear here and there that Olga was a secret agent of Stalin and that even with her participation an attempt on Hitler was being prepared. And while some sources are trustworthy, there are no documents to back this up.





The "steel butterfly" of the Philippines

Imelda Marcos, wife (and now widow) of the Philippine dictator of the 1960s and 80s, Ferdinando Marcos.





Using her diplomatic gift, she gained great political and social influence, so much so that she was called "the other half of the marital dictatorship." And for the strength of character combined with beauty and grace, he was called a "steel butterfly".





Imelda is an extravagant lady. While in power, she is said to have spent millions on shopping in the world's fashion capitals, on portraits of herself and family members that she ordered in New York, amassed an incredible collection of shoes (now donated to a museum), and also had a rich collection of works of art, including works by Michelangelo, Botticelli and Raphael.





Mussolini's mistress

The Roman aristocrat Clara (Claretta) Petacci, who looked like a movie star, was almost 30 years younger than him and shared a terrible fate with him.





In 1945, Mussolini and Claretta tried to escape, but were recognized by the partisans and shot, and the face of the Duce was disfigured beyond recognition, and then their bodies were also hung by their legs at a gas station in Milan. But the legal wife of the fascist dictator Rakelet, although she remained faithful to him to the end, was not with him at the last minute - the couple said goodbye a week and a half earlier. She died in 1979, when she was under 90.





: dill.org