Elizabeth Taylor and Hollywood are cast from the same mould, yet she was actually British! And so was her greatest love, the dashing rogue Richard Burton who was Welsh, whom she married twice and never quite got over.
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| Elizabeth Taylor And Richard Burton Relationship |
Elizabeth Taylor was a woman of great substance and in her lifetime, achieved incredible worldwide recognition. She endured great tragedy but also experienced amazing happiness. For anyone wearing her beautiful gems and gowns, perhaps a little bit of her incredible life, talent, passions, her heart and her mind may well pass on...
Elizabeth Taylor was knighted by the Queen and became a Dame in 2000. A year later she received America's Presidential Citizen's Medal for raising US$200 million for AIDS research. She was the first superstar to take up this cause when AIDS was a fearful subject of the 80s. AIDS research continued to benefit from her patronage for many more years.
Her string of awards include the French Legion of Honor received in 1987, Life Achievement Award in 1997 by the Screen Actors Guild, an induction into California Hall of Fame in 2007 and of course two Best Actress Oscars... Academy Awards for 'Butterfield 8' (1960) and 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf' (1966).
Her most famous movie, the one that lifted her to legendary status was 'Cleopatra' at that time the most expensive movie ever made and where she met and started a love affair with Richard Burton. The affair titillated and shocked the world as both were married. But the Taylor and Burton affair lifted them to heights of notoriety that catapulted both into superstar status.
In all, they starred in eleven films together, not all equally successful, but both became world famous and very rich. Elizabeth attended many of the world's most glamorous events and she wore her diamonds and her couture clothes to all of them. They were all flawless and exquisitely made and were a perfect match for her great beauty.
But every piece she wore held sentiments known only to her, for many were gems given to her by first, Mike Todd her first husband, and then by Richard Burton...
At her death, her jewellery was estimated to be worth nearly USD 160 million from an estate valued at around USD 1 billion. The most famous of her gems is the Krupp diamond which she wore daily - a 33.19 carat flawless stone from Richard Burton. Burton had acquired it for USD 300,000 in 1968. It is the star lot in the auction and it has a presale estimate of USD 3.5 million. It is referred to now as the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond.
There is however an even bigger stone, also from Burton. This is the 69.42 carat Taylor-Burton Diamond, but it is not part of the auction as this is being sold by private treaty later.
Burton also gave her the 50 carat La Peregrina Pearl, once belonging to Queen Mary 1 of England and subsequently handed down through the centuries as part of the royal gems. This famous pearl will be auctioned this December by Chrlstie's New York for USD 3 million upwards. To think Richard Burton paid a mere US$37,000 in 1968 when he outbid a member of the Spanish Royal Family, La Peregrina was last owned by a Spanish aristocrat.
Burton gave the Pearl to Elizabeth on Valentine's Day 14 February in 1969 together with a portrait of Queen Mary 1 wearing the La Peregrina Pearl! Burton had scoured the antique galleries of Europe before finding the superb painting. When they discovered that the British National Portrait Gallery did not own any original painting of Queen Mary, the couple donated the painting to the Gallery.
Elizabeth Taylor married 8 times because... she once told an interviewer, she did not open her eyes for 8 days
after she was born! When she did, the first thing she saw was her mother's finger wearing her engagement ring and she was hooked!
Not many people remember all her eight husbands except perhaps for Richard Burton whom she married twice! Her other husbands were Conrad Hilton (the Hotel heir), Michael Wilding (with whom she had the sons that now run her estate), Michael Todd ( the Film Director whose untimely death in an air crash broke her heart), Eddie Fisher (who comforted her after Todd's death whom she stole from her best friend Debbie Reynolds), Richard Burton (with whom she had a mad love affair and then married and remarried), John Warner (a politician she later described as a mistake) and Larry Fortensky (whom many dismiss as a gold digger).
She has explained, "People asked why I married so often. My parents told me if I fell in love and wanted a love affair, I should marry. I am an old fashioned girl".
Of all the gowns in the auction, it is her bright yellow wedding dress by Irene Sharaff which probably has the greatest sentimental value as she wore it at her first wedding to Richard Burton. It is expected to fetch up to USD 80,000! Another wedding dress by Gina Fratini worn to her second wedding to Richard Burton in Botswana is also being auctioned.
And the size? Any woman wanting any of the gowns should note Taylor's petite size. Her vital statistics are 36C-21-36 and her height of 5ft 2inches! Her jewels too come in small sizes. Likely participants in the auction who have the measurements and yes, the moneyed men to participate in the auction would be Angelina Jolie (Brad Pitt ?) or maybe Salma Hayek (her wealthy husband the Gucci heir Jean Francoise). To find out more, you can check out Elizabeth Taylor And Richard Burton Relationship.