The best example from Chinese history is Empress Wu Zetian. In this thread is smething I wrote on here a ways back that sums up her story -
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1je5of/how_did_empress_wu_zetian_come_to_rule_china_as_a/
Eva Perón (Evita) is probably the most famous modern example. She had a major role in both adding legitimacy to Juan Perón's government and actually running the government — she was Minister of Labour and Health. Eva was a major symbol for the government and the Peronist movement and was extensively used in state propaganda.
Souce: Evita: The Real Life of Eva Perón. by Nicholas Fraser and Marysa Navarro
Queen Elizabeth I had a pretty good personality cult going. I found this TIME biography, I'm not sure how historically accurate TIME biographies are in general, but this bit matches up with what I've read in academic sources:
Elizabeth's way of escaping gender restrictions and defining herself as a legitimate ruler lay in consummate imagemaking. She stage-managed her own personality cult. She dressed to kill, glittering with jewels in wondrous costumes to bedazzle her subjects. She went on royal progresses--the equivalent of photo-ops--to show off and get to know her people. She had the common touch, able to rouse a crowd or charm a citizen. She had flattering portraits painted and copies widely distributed. She encouraged balladeers to pen propagandistic songs. Her marvelous mythmaking machinery cultivated a mystic bond with the English people. "We all loved her," wrote her godson Sir John Harington, "for she said she loved us."
Elena Ceausescu, the wife of Nicolae Ceausescu the Communist dictator of Romania was made Deputy Prime Minister of Romania. She became apart of her husband's cult of personality and modeled her role after Jiang Qing (Mao's wife). Elena had numerous titles given to her including "Mother of the Nation"; she even passed herself off as a leading chemical researcher while her PhD dissertation and other research was either plagiarized or ghost written by others. The Kim family has venerated the mother's of their Dear Leaders, the late Ko Young-hui the mother of current ruler has been titled "The Respected Mother who is the Most Faithful and Loyal 'Subject' even though she has Japanese ancestry, something taboo in NK were the Japanese are seen as most evil nation after the USA. The Anti-Japanese guerrilla activities of Kim Ill Sung the mother of Kim Jong Ill have been exaggerated in the Kim family myth. Some believe that Kim Jong un's current wife Ri Sol-ju, who appears in public photos next to her husband may be elevated as time goes on.
She was a rather striking woman
She was an early radio/revival circuit evangelist who was fond of dressing in a naval uniform who vanished one day and then showed up with story about being kidnapped that slowly fell apart. There are some interesting tabloids from the day covering it. She was lampooned by Sinclair Lewis in Elmer Gantry as Sister Falconer
Some interesting source material Smithsonian magazine article
