Eyes closed and lips pursed, Imelda Marcos leans forward to plant a ghoulish kiss on the glass coffin containing her husband's embalmed corpse.
Many believed the former Filipino first lady, still elegant at 80, had cloistered herself away to spend her remaining days in anonymous ignominy.
They were wrong. At the last possible moment - and with her trademark taste for the theatrical - Marcos has exploded back into political life.
Electioneering: Imelda Marcos leans forward to kiss the casket of her dead husband Ferdinand after announcing she would be standing for the Filipino parliament
Ghoulish: The extraordinary photocall took place in the basement of Marcos's mansion in the town of Batac
Nor has age dulled her ambition. She is leading her brood into battle with daughter Imee running for governor of Ilocos Norte province and son Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Junior seeking a senate seat.
Marcos's decision to stand for parliament was a closely-guarded secret until now, in line with the Phillipines strict election laws.
The shamelessly political photocall held at the mausoleum in the basement of her own home, in the town of Batac, was her inimitable way of announcing she was back.
After posing with her husband's waxy body, resplendent in white jacket, ceremonial sash and polished medals, she moved upstairs to hold a press conference.
Clan: Marcos's daughter Imee (right) is also running for office and aims to become governor of Ilocos Norte province
Campaign trail: Marcos (right) speaks to Batac residents from her battle bus after announcing her candidacy
'He was our best ever president,' she said, immaculate in tangerine blouse and matching trousers.
'During his time we had territorial integrity, freedom, justice and human rights. Whatever else people may say those were the best times ever for the Philippines.'
She insisted age was no issue. 'It is true that I am 80 years old, but I can also be a grandmother for our country,' she said.
Marcos astounded political observers when she registered at the last possible moment to run for election.
She stressed that her motivation was redemption for her husband, who is accused of stealing billions of dollars from state coffers during his 20-year rule.
Entourage: The former first lady (rught, under umbrella) held a rally at the Paoay Church in Paoay, Ilocos Norte province
'What I really want is to be a mother to each and every village so it will be a village fit for human beings,' she said.
'I will not stop until each and every village becomes a human settlement and also a paradise, because it is doable, because it is possible to make human settlements a paradise.'
The former first lady is no political novice. She was housing minister and governor of the Manila capital region during her husband's rule and also ran an unsuccessful campaign for presidential office in 1992.
But it is her eccentricities, extravagance and corruption that most remember - as well as her collection of 3,400 pairs of shoes, many never worn.
They were discovered in her palatial apartments after the bloodless coup and immediately became a symbol of the couple's excess. While the Marcoses lived in splendour, millions of their people suffered abject poverty.
Elegant at 80: Marcos outside the family mansion in Batac last night
He died from kidney and heart failure in 1989 and was never brought to account for what is believed to have been the world's biggest theft.
His wife, however, was put before a New York court in 1990, accused of stealing $220million.
This amounted to only a fraction of their jointly acquired wealth. Estimates stood at a staggering $50billion.
She was acquitted but faced 901 separate lawsuits whens she finally returned to the Philippines from exile in 1991. A handful are still outstanding.
The Marcos estate has also been successfully sued for $2billion damages by 10,000-exiled Filipinos. But the irrepressible Imelda has never been convicted of a criminal offence.
She has run two unsuccessful presidential campaigns but her most high-profile venture in recent years was a clothing and jewellery chain.
Notorious: Imelda and her husband Ferdinand Marcos lived a life of excess while their people struggled to survive
Symbol: Some of the 3,400 pairs of shoes belonging to Imelda Marcos found after her husband was ousted from office in 1986
