Eight weddings and seven divorces

Marriage No. 1: Nicky Hilton (May 1950 – February 1951)

Taylor married the heir to the Hilton hotel empire when she was just 18. Hilton (great-uncle of Paris Hilton) was a playboy and a gambler. Their brief union – 203 days – was deeply unhappy and Ms Taylor later admitted he had beaten and mentally abused her throughout the marriage.

Marriage No. 2: Michael Wilding (February 1952 – January 1957)

Wilding was a British actor from Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. He was twice Ms Taylor’s age and provided her with much-needed stability after her disastrous marriage to Hilton. They had two sons, Michael Jr and Christopher, but the marriage foundered after five years. Ms Taylor was a huge star and Wilding’s Hollywood career never quite took off. The pair remained friends after the split.

Marriage No. 3: Mike Todd (February 1957 – March 1958)

The flamboyant movie producer wooed Ms Taylor with romantic gestures and expensive gifts and they married a few days after her separation with Mr Wilding. Their marriage, which produced one daughter, Liza, was tempestuous from the beginning. Ms Taylor has always maintained that Todd, not Burton, was the true love of her life. “I was at my happiest with Mike Todd,” she said in one of her last interviews. She was devastated when he died in an air crash in New Mexico. His plane was called The Lucky Liz.

Marriage No. 4: Eddie Fisher (May 1959 – March 1964)

Fisher had been Todd’s best friend – and best man at his wedding – and comforted Ms Taylor in her grief and accompanied her to Todd’s funeral. At the time the crooner was married to Ms Taylor’s friend, the actress Debbie Reynolds. Their affair scandalised Hollywood. When they married Ms Taylor declared: “Our honeymoon will last 40 years.” The marriage lasted five.

Marriage No. 5: Richard Burton (March 1964 – June 1974)

One of the most famous love stories in Hollywood history. The couple met on the set of Cleopatra in 1962 and began a passionate affair when they were both married to their respective spouses. The Vatican denounced their relationship as an affront to morality. Their marriage was famously fiery but Ms Taylor declared: “If Richard and I divorce, I swear I will never marry anyone again. I love him insanely.” It lasted 10 years – Ms Taylor’s longest marriage – before they split.

Marriage No. Six – Richard Burton (October 1975 – August 1976)

Just 16 months after their divorce, the couple surprised the world by remarrying. This time they wed in a secret ceremony in Botswana. But the stormy relationship did not last and was marred by Burton’s drinking. They divorced for the second time less than a year later. Burton married twice more and died in 1984.

Marriage No. 7: John Warner (December 1976 – November 1982)

The Republican politician was Secretary of the Navy in the Nixon administration when he met Taylor on Washington’s diplomatic circuit. Although an avowed Democrat, Taylor threw herself into campaigning for Warner in his successful bid to become Senator of Virginia (a seat he still holds today). They divorced in 1982.

Marriage No. 8: Larry Fortensky (October 1991 – October 1996)

Ms Taylor’s last – and unlikeliest – marriage began when she met mullet-haired construction worker Mr Fortensky in the Betty Ford Clinic, where they were both being treated for alcoholism. He was 20 years her junior. They wed at Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch and Ms Taylor said: “This is it, forever.” She filed for divorce five years later.