María del Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdés, 1st Lady of Meirás, Grandee of Spain (11 June 1900 – 6 February 1988) was the wife of the dictator, general and "caudillo" Francisco Franco.

[2] She was the daughter of Felipe Polo y Flórez de Vereterra (1860–1926), a wealthy lawyer in Oviedo, and Ramona Martínez-Valdés y Martínez-Valdés (1870 – 8 February 1914), paternal granddaughter of Claudio Polo-Vereterra y Astudillo and wife Bonifacia Flórez and sister of María Isabel (married to José María Sanchíz y Sancho), Felipe and Ramona (Zita) (married in Oviedo on 6 February 1932 to Ramón Serrano Súñer).

When he returned, ready to marry, the death (5 June 1923) of Rafael de Valenzuela [es], successor to José Millán Astray as commander of the Spanish Legion, intervened.

His ambition was too great to resist the opportunity, and he left for Morocco on 18 July 1923, promising his fiancée: "This year we will be married, above all else.

Having become Spain's most decorated soldier, Franco was eventually given a leave of forty days, and royal permission to marry.

Franco's best man was King Alfonso XIII, represented by General Antonio Losada, military governor of Asturias.

They moved from Madrid to Zaragoza, back to Oviedo, to the Canary Islands and after the Spanish Civil War, to Salamanca and Burgos.

In September 1936, Franco was chosen and appointed generalísimo and head of state by the National Defense Board (Junta de Defensa Nacional).

[citation needed] She would never have this problem again since in 1936, she began to build up a large collection of hats, dresses and pearl necklaces, the last of which became her trademark.

Franco was initially inclined to live in the Royal Palace of Madrid, but was disabused of this notion by Ramón Serrano Súñer.

The Francos passed their summers at the manor house Pazo de Meirás, and fishing on their yacht Azor.

The home, which had formerly belonged to Emilia Pardo Bazán, was, according to the official story, bought by "popular subscription" for more than 400,000 pesetas.

One of the most famous events of the Franco family was the marriage of the younger Carmen to Cristóbal Martínez-Bordiú, a son of the counts of Arguillo.

On 8 March 1972, her granddaughter María del Carmen married Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz, a member of the House of Bourbon.

In 1978, her daughter was arrested at Madrid Barajas International Airport for attempting to smuggle 300 million pesetas worth of gold, jewellery and medals that had belonged to her father.