Elizabeth Taylor’s Friend Names Her Best Lover

Fourteen years after her death, the world still can’t look away from the “Cleopatra” actress — the woman with violet eyes, a trail of husbands, and a bathtub framed in photos of her lost lover.

A new wave of docuseries, music, and confessions from those who knew Elizabeth Taylor best is lifting the veil on Hollywood’s most intoxicating love affair — and reminding us why the world is still obsessed.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton at their first wedding in Montreal, Canada, circa 1964 | Source: Getty Images

“She was the most famous woman on planet Earth,” says longtime friend and fashion designer Vicky Tiel, who shared intimate secrets and champagne-soaked nights with Taylor across Europe during the 1960s and ’70s.

And it’s no wonder. The woman who once purred, “What do you expect me to do, sleep alone?” during a scandalous affair with Eddie Fisher — while he was still married to Debbie Reynolds — remains a symbol of passion, rebellion, and unapologetic glamor.

Singer Eddie Fisher is shown with his then-wife, Debbie Reynolds (right), and Elizabeth Taylor, circa June 1958 | Source: Getty Images

The First Reality Star: Kim Kardashian Revives Elizabeth’s Untamed Spirit

Taylor’s legendary life is being reborn for a new generation through “Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar,” a new Fox Nation docuseries executive-produced by Kim Kardashian. It paints Taylor not just as an actress, but as “the first reality star” — a woman who lived boldly, fell hard, and never apologized.

A portrait of Elizabeth Taylor, circa 1950 | Source: Getty Images

Pop culture is answering the call. Taylor Swift just dropped “Elizabeth Taylor” — a breathless tribute track on her new album The Life of a Showgirl, celebrating Taylor’s violet eyes, signature scent White Diamonds, and romantic getaways to Portofino.

But behind the perfumes and premieres, it’s Taylor’s raw, often painful, always unfiltered humanity that’s being dragged back into the limelight.

Sex, Laughter, and Diamond-Bathed Memories: Inside Her Most Private Moments

In Paris, 1964, Tiel first met the star who would become her close friend. Taylor was newly married to Richard Burton — the man she married twice — and wanted a look as bold as her new life.

“She threw away the old clothes, the Dior look and the fitted suits,” said Tiel. “It was so old lady. We were now in the ’60s, the sexual revolution. Elizabeth loved that. From then on she always wore my mini dresses.”

Elizabeth Taylor poses in a swimsuit with a beach ball, circa January 1950 | Source: Getty Images

As they traveled together across Europe’s finest hotels, surrounded by luxury and lovers, the two women forged a connection built on glamor, wit, and unguarded honesty.

“We talked about sex all the time,” Tiel shared. The star’s favorite partner in bed, she reveals, “was Richard. Absolutely. No question about it. Her lover for life was Richard.”

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor are pictured in a scene from “Cleopatra,” circa 1963 | Source: Getty Images

Taylor didn’t just talk about sex — she celebrated it, laughed about it, and lived it. “She was very fun. She took sex very lightly… She would just always laugh and be happy. She was a very, very happy person,” mentioned Tiel.

A Final Phone Call, a Bathtub Shrine, and a Love That Refused to Die

When Burton died of a brain hemorrhage in 1984 at age 58, he left behind more than a broken Hollywood fairy tale — a final love letter. It came in the form of a phone call to Tiel and her then-husband Ron Berkeley, just two days before he died.

“He said, ‘I don’t think I’m going to live very long, and I just wanted you and Ron to tell Elizabeth I’ll always love her the most. I love her forever and ever. And I miss her and I love her with all my heart,'” recalled Tiel.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton attend the premiere of the latter’s film, “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold,” circa December 1965 | Source: Getty Images

Shortly after his death, Tiel went to visit Taylor at her Bel Air mansion — and what she witnessed was haunting. “She’s taking a bath,” Tiel recounted. “She said, ‘Well, come on in the bathtub.’ So I go in the bathroom. She’s got a bathtub, and all the way around is a ledge around her bathtub. It’s all frames of diamond edges; not real, but I mean, gorgeous frames, maybe 20 frames surrounding the bathtub. It was all pictures of her and Richard.”

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor are seen in a photo, circa 1980 | Source: Getty Images

From London to Hollywood: The Making of a Violet-Eyed Star

Born February 27, 1932, in London to American parents Sara and Francis Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor was raised for the spotlight. Her father was an art dealer, her mother a former actress, and war forced the family to flee to Los Angeles in 1939.

A screen test led to her first film at age ten — “There’s One Born Every Minute” (1942). But it was MGM’s “National Velvet” (1944) that made her a household name, launching a career that spanned decades and outshone nearly all her peers.

Elizabeth Taylor is seen at the 33rd Academy Awards, in Santa Monica, California, on April 17, 1961. | Source: Getty Images

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Taylor dazzled in hits like “A Place in the Sun” (1951), “Giant” (1956), and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958). She took home two Oscars — first for “Butterfield 8” (1960), then for her searing turn in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1966).

Eight Marriages, Seven Men, and One Unbreakable Bond

Taylor’s career success was often mirrored by public interest in her personal life. She married eight times — to seven men — and each relationship captured headlines.

Elizabeth Taylor and Conrad Hilton Jr. are seen on their wedding day, circa 1950 | Source: Getty Images

But it was her fierce, intoxicating bond with Burton that stole the show. Her first marriage, in 1950, to hotel heir Conrad Hilton Jr., lasted less than a year. She had two children with her second husband, British actor Michael Wilding. They were married from 1952 to 1957.

Michael Wilding and Elizabeth Taylor are seen with their two sons, circa 1955 | Source: Getty Images

After calling it quits with Wilding, Taylor went on to marry Mike Todd in 1957, who died tragically in a plane crash in 1958. The couple had one child together.

Elizabeth Taylor and Mike Todd are seen on their honeymoon, circa 1957 | Source: Getty Images

Then came the scandal: her affair and subsequent marriage to singer Eddie Fisher, which lasted from 1959 to 1964.

Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher attend the Academy Awards in Los Angeles, California, circa 1960 | Source: Getty Images

But it was on the set of “Cleopatra” (1963) that Elizabeth met Burton — and from that moment on, the world couldn’t look away. They married in 1964, divorced in 1974, then remarried in 1975 — only to divorce again a year later.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton on the film set of “The Sandpiper” in 1965 | Source: Getty Images

Later, Taylor wed Senator John Warner in 1976, but the couple decided to go their separate ways and divorced in 1982. But none of them replaced Richard.

Elizabeth Taylor and John Warner attend the afterparty for the play, “The Little Foxes” at Xenon on May 7, 1981, in New York City | Source: Getty Images

Her final walk down the aisle came in 1991 with construction worker Larry Fortensky, whom she met during rehab at the Betty Ford Center — a match born not in Hollywood, but in healing. The marriage dissolved in 1996. But no matter how many vows she exchanged, no man ever replaced Burton.

Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky circa 1990 in New York City | Source: Getty Images

Art, Scandal, and the Vatican’s Condemnation

Taylor and Burton’s passion was so all-consuming that even the Vatican condemned it, warning the pair would descend into “erotic vagrancy.” They didn’t care.

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor are seen during the filming of Peter Glenville’s “Becket,” circa 1964 | Source: Getty Images

In fact, Lewis believed Taylor grew as an actress because of Burton, while he lost part of his soul. “One of the big things that happened when Burton met Taylor was that was the end of his career on the stage,” revealed Lewis. “By meeting Elizabeth Taylor, that destroyed him as a classical actor.” Still, he admitted, “She gets to be really good. She now has presence. She has command and depth.”

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the film “The V.I.P.s,” circa 1963 | Source: Getty Images

Nowhere is that more evident than in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” where the couple’s real-life storminess bleeds into their on-screen roles. “It’s like their marriage there we’re watching, but sort of in a stylized way. It’s turned into art,” noted Lewis.

Richard Burton kisses Elizabeth Taylor at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York, circa 1964 | Source: Getty Images

Elizabeth Forever: A Diamond That Still Dazzles

From child star to tabloid obsession, from Oscar winner to glamorous widow soaking in a tub of memories, Taylor never stopped being a star.

She lived out loud, loved with abandon, and held onto her greatest romance — even as the world watched her fall apart and come back together again.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the film ”The Comedians,” circa 1967 | Source: Getty Images

Now, as new documentaries, pop anthems, and long-lost confessions bring her back into the spotlight, one thing is clear: The world will never stop being fascinated by Taylor — the woman with violet eyes and a diamond heart.