Isabel Preysler: My Christmas (Isabel Preylser, mi Navidad)

If you look back and remember Christmas in Manila,

what do you remember?

They are good memories.

Very good memories.

Yes, because in the Philippines,

the Spanish community also celebrates Three Kings' Day.

I have a photo with Melchior

because we'd go to get our presents on January 6th.

And I remember that after I went shopping with my mother,

I saw a fire engine passing by with Santa Claus on it.

Santa was throwing candy to the kids. I was shocked.

"Look, it's Santa Claus!"

That image of Santa Claus in the fire engine

is etched in my mind.

Because it was the first time that I ever saw Santa Claus.

ISABEL PREYSLER, MY CHRISTMAS

Nowadays, I lead a very peaceful life.

But I like it.

I like it.

And these last few years, I haven't stopped traveling.

I almost spent more time in the air than on the ground.

And now…

I know how to make better choices than a few years ago.

Inhale and up.

Up, up, up! Look ahead, Puri. Not like that.

There. Stretch up.

Now, bend forward,

and let's bring our hands back.

Now, I'll extend my right hand.

Extend your spine, and keep it parallel to the ground.

When you exhale, lock your posture, and bring your arm back again.

- This is a new one, Chus. - We'll stretch our arms upwards.

-What? -This is a new one.

- It's not new! - Oh!

I don't remember this either.

- You just forgot about it! - What?

Isabel, try to do it with your knees…

-Don't bend them, stretch them. -But I don't have knee pits.

- I know. - I can't go all the way down.

You always could.

-No. -Oh!

Yoga was very important to me for many years,

while I was able to practice it.

Breathe in through your nose.

But when Miguel got ill,

I had to stop because he was in the hospital for two months.

And I would go there every day, so I had to stop doing yoga.

And after that, I just didn't return to it.

Well, perfect.

-This is exciting. -Let's see if you--

We're a bit stale, but, well…

A bit rusty.

- We creak. We're creaky. - But--

Can you say that? Creaky?

Old and stale, and rusty when--

Yes, right? We're fabulous.

Isabel, I want you to tell me…

…why is it so important to you

that everything is spotless for Christmas?

Absolutely.

Think about it. I throw a lot of Christmas dinner parties for friends.

The house has to be perfect.

Good morning, boys.

- Hello. - Good morning.

How are you? Did you get some rest after yesterday?

The table linen, the dinnerware, everything has to be perfect.

Elías, something really important came up during my chat with her yesterday.

The glasses. We need to check all of them.

She doesn't want any cracked glasses. They need to be perfect.

Let's check them and replace any damaged ones.

- Very well. - Okay.

I go to great lengths to ensure that everything is perfect.

But there are always things that don't go to plan, aren't there?

I had a chauffeur who had worked for me for 35 years.

And I said, "I don't know what I'm going to do when Francisco leaves."

And my daughters said, "Mom, don't worry, you can't live without Francisco,

"but since Francisco can't live without you either, it's all good.

"You can always count on him."

But no. Francisco retired and Rafael took over.

But the truth is that he does everything with a lot of love as well.

- Hello, how are you? - How are you?

-Morning, Rafael. How are you? -How are you, Macarena?

- Very well. - All well?

All is well.

I'm here for the Madam's order.

-I'll get it right away. Just one second. -Great. Thank you.

Here you go, Rafael.

Outstanding. Right on time, as always.

Yes. Here it is.

- It's lovely. - It's delightful.

-With the initials… -Lovely.

-…that she chose. -The initials the Madam chose.

On a personal level…

…I'd say that Mrs. Isabel is a perfectionist.

- I'll get it for you. - Thanks.

I hope she enjoys it.

-I'm sure she will. Thanks. -Thanks, Rafael.

She really likes it when you do whatever she asks of you.

Maybe these things seem insignificant to us,

but for her, they are of vital importance.

Isabel, tell me, how do you choose a dress for Christmas?

Have you always had the same style or has it changed over time?

Well, I always choose dresses that I think will suit me.

I was never very modern and I never followed trends,

like my daughter Tamara does, for instance.

- Hello, Cris. How are you? - How are you?

Very well. I have a few things here for you to try on.

- I want to show you this Armani jacket. - It's marvelous.

Let me have a look.

-Lovely! -Giorgio loves you so much.

When I told them, "I need a few outfits," they were delighted.

It is a bit heavy, though.

- I adore Giorgio. - So do I.

- This-- Yes. - It's lovely, but it's so heavy.

- It's embroidered fabric. - It's so heavy.

There's another one, by Fernando Claro.

They've made some dresses with sequins that can stretch.

They come in all colors and they fit like a glove.

Yes, but they're for a girl with a great body.

Well, Isabel, I mean…

- No, seriously-- - Listen, you'd look great in these.

- These are for a very young woman. - It's something--

And they made them…

- Look at these lovely sequins. - This one too?

And this one has sequins too.

- This one stretches more. - Yes.

-They are divine. -They're lovely.

And I also brought this.

It's a little bold.

Yes, this one's for a bad day.

What do you think?

Well, the color is definitely…

RABAT has also sent us this collection of jewelry.

This skirt opens up, right?

Yes, it has a very Dior "New Look" silhouette.

- I think-- - Let's see the rings.

- They're too big for you. - Yes.

All rings are. Your fingers are so tiny.

This question is for me.

How do you feel when they say that Isabel Preysler is a woman of mystery?

I don't know, to be honest. I don't see any mystery.

I had this friend, Jean Louis Mathieu, who always said to me,

"Women tend to lose their mystery

"and they don't know how important that is.

"But you will always be successful because you have that mystery about you."

I couldn't see anything mysterious about me. I didn't see it at all.

I can assure you that it was completely unintentional.

These are the boxes we need to take upstairs.

- All of these? - Yes.

Okay.

-I'll take these. -Yes, take those.

I'll take this heavier one.

All right.

- Shall we pile them up there? - Yes, sure.

Okay, great.

Maybe a bit further that way?

- There are still a few left. - All right.

Every time I'm on the first floor…

…everything happens around it.

I can manage the whole household from the gallery.

I hear the kids…

…in their rooms, because all of their rooms

are around the gallery.

Let's see. Ana, how old are you?

-How old? -One.

- One? - One.

- One and one? - One.

- One and one? Two? - One and one is two.

My five children are very close.

Hey, tiny one, what is your name?

- Ana. - Ana.

- Tiny Ana. - Ana…

But Ana and Tamara, they both adore each other.

Tell me what this is.

It's because they grew up together.

This…

Yes, what is this?

I remember, when I was little,

we both hid behind a curtain in my mother's room,

and we painted a little house on the wall. When my mother caught us,

she scolded us so badly that I will never forget it.

And recently,

I saw my children holding crayons…

…drawing on the wall in her room.

And I thought, "I can't believe it. I'm done for."

Then my mother sees it and she says, "That's all right.

"We can repaint the walls. Who cares if they drew on my wall?"

And I said, "What?

"I still remember the scolding I got for painting on your wall as a kid,

"and now you tell me that it's fine, that walls can be repainted."

But she's like that now.

Mom!

That's Mikey.

- One of the kids is crying. - That's Mikey. Mikey, come here!

Mikey, everything is fine, love.

- Where are you? - Come here with me.

Come here.

You're not going anywhere.

Hey, love, what's wrong?

Okay, come here. You can come to the swimming pool. Come this way.