The Legendary Love Story of Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton

When Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton met on the set of Cleopatra in 1962, it was more than just a spark—it was a wildfire. Two of the most magnetic stars in Hollywood collided in a romance that defied conventions, scandalized the world, and endured through passion, turmoil, and time.

Elizabeth, already a screen goddess and married at the time, found in Burton a tempestuous Welsh actor with a voice like thunder and a wit to match her fierce spirit. Their on-screen chemistry as Cleopatra and Mark Antony ignited a real-life affair that became the most talked-about love story of the 1960s.

They were both married to others when their relationship began, leading to a tabloid frenzy and condemnation—even from the Vatican, which called their union “erotic vagrancy.” But neither fame nor fire could keep them apart.

In March 1964, after finalizing their respective divorces, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton married in a private ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Montreal. She wore a canary yellow chiffon dress by Irene Sharaff, the costume designer for Cleopatra, and a bouquet of lilies-of-the-valley. It was a wedding that marked the beginning of a new era of celebrity romance—grand, public, unapologetic.

Their love was as grand as their careers: they starred in 11 films together, gifted each other lavish jewels (including the legendary 69-carat Taylor-Burton diamond), and lived a life of jet-setting excess. But with such passion came volatility. After a decade of marriage, they divorced in 1974—only to remarry a year later in 1975 in Botswana. Their second marriage was short-lived, ending in 1976, but the bond between them never truly faded.

Elizabeth would later say, “I was still madly in love with him the day he died.” And when Burton passed away in 1984, she wrote a final letter to him—unread, buried with him in his grave.

Together, they were chaotic and captivating—a love story for the ages that reminds us how passion, though imperfect, can leave a lasting mark on the world.