Born in
Bacolod,
Negros Occidental,
Philippines, Porteous is the daughter of Nicolas
Lacson and Amparo Lacson. Her grandfather,
Gen. Aniceto Lacson, was a distinguished sugar baron who was also prominent military figure in Negros Occidental during the
Philippine Revolution while her uncle,
Arsenio Lacson, was the first elected mayor of
Manila. Her brother, Salvador L. Lacson, is the chairman of Lacson and Lacson Insurance Brokers Inc., a leading firm since 1973. After spending time in Hong Kong, Spain, Singapore and Malaysia, Porteous arrived in Australia in 1983 on a three-month
working visa. Porteous began working as a
maid for the newly widowed Hancock. Gina Rinehart, who stood to inherit his entire estate, did not attend the wedding. Although the marriage would later prove tumultuous, early on Hancock was clearly infatuated with his young wife. He gave her money and investments in real estate in the Sydney area. Porteous, in turn, helped Hancock to look and act like a much younger man, belying his eight decades. As
The Age put it, "Rose made Lang feel younger, sprucing up his wardrobe, dying his hair and getting rid of his cane". Together they built the "Prix d'Amour", a lavish 16-block mansion overlooking the
Swan River. The mansion, which was modelled after
Tara, the plantation mansion in the movie
Gone with the Wind, was the setting for many large parties at which Hancock and Porteous would "dance into the night". An autopsy showed that he had died of
arteriosclerotic heart disease and police investigation revealed no evidence to contradict that. The inquest was put on hold after allegations that Rinehart had paid witnesses to appear and that some had lied in their testimony. It resumed three months later with a smaller witness list and ended with the finding that Hancock had died of natural causes and not as a result of Porteous' behaviour. A short-lived one-off reality TV show titled
Rose followed in November 2002. During 2005 it was reported that Porteous was being sued in excess of
A$14 million by Melbourne-based law firm
Slater & Gordon in unpaid legal fees. It was reported that the unpaid fees came from court cases and legal actions in which Slater and Gordon represented Porteous, including the 2001 inquiry into the death of Hancock, and the long-running court battle with Rinehart, over his A$400 million-plus estate. It was reported that Porteous defaulted on two monthly payments to the legal firm of A$25,000 each. The dispute was lodged in the
Victorian Supreme Court and Porteous unsuccessfully sought to have the matter heard in Western Australia, also claiming that she signed legal agreements in 2005, under
duress. The matter was settled in November, with Porteous agreeing to pay the law firm A$13.25 million by 31 December 2005.
Wealth The wealth of Porteous is unknown. In 2007 it was reported that she sold two adjoining penthouses in
Toorak, Melbourne over six months for an estimated A$9 million, a profit of A$4 million. In March 2006, Porteous commissioned the demolition of her Perth mansion "Prix d'Amour", built with Hancock in 1990 for an estimated cost of A$7 million. The 17-room landmark mansion featured French doors and windows, parquetry and marble floors and wrought iron. The estate, set on featured the main house, two guest houses, a tennis court and two swimming pools. The property was then subdivided into ten approximately lots (each with maximised views) which were put on the market for around A$5 million. In 2008–2009, two of these blocks were resold for a profit of A$1.5 million. == References ==