EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Burton’s no-show in Taylor Swift’s Liz Taylor video sparks mystery

Condemned by the Vatican for ‘erotic vagrancy’, he was married eight times and fascinated global audiences with the volatility of his personal life as well as a film career that began when he starred in the 1944 film National Velvet when he was just 12 years old.

So it was perhaps inevitable that Elizabeth Taylor would inspire someone her second son, Christopher Wilding, describes as a “kindred spirit”: American pop superstar Taylor Swift, who has nearly 560 million followers on social media.

The resulting recording is simply titled Elizabeth Taylor and is, Wilding says, “capably captured.”[s] the similarities and parallel paths in the two women’s ‘careers and personal lives’.

But the accompanying trailer raises unique questions not about Taylor Swift, but about Elizabeth Taylor and the complex, extended family that sprouted from her tumultuous personal life.

Each frame of the video is archival footage from movies or newsreels; such as the crowds that gathered at Caxton Hall in London when she married her second husband, actor Michael Wilding, in 1952; from her they had sons Michael, 73, and 71-year-old.

The three-minute video also features Elizabeth’s third husband, American filmmaker Mike Todd, who was three months pregnant with their daughter Liza when they married in 1957. But there is footage from two of Elizabeth’s most acclaimed films: Cleopatra and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? — missing even a glimpse of her co-star in both, Richard Burton, the man she married and divorced twice.

This is a puzzling omission; This was made all the more intriguing by Burton’s fourth wife and widow, Sally, who collaborated on Wild Genius, the BBC documentary celebrating the centenary of Burton’s birth last year. Sally said to me: ‘I know who said no, but I’m not ready to comment publicly on it.’

This puts the spotlight on actress Kate Burton, 68, who is older than Burton’s daughters with Sybil Williams; Burton’s first wife, whom he left for Taylor after his affair with actress Claire Bloom. But Kate also refuses to comment.

This only deepens the mystery. Kate made it clear in an interview before Christmas that she had no animosity towards her stepmother.

Perhaps this riddle is solved in Petula Clark’s latest memoir, Are You the One, Petula? She recalls that Burton was chosen to star alongside her in Goodbye, Mr Chips, but backed out, disdainful of being cast opposite a ‘pop star’ rather than an actress.

So it can be said that he honors the memory of the person who said ‘no’…

(Very) modern etiquette

India Hicks, King Charles’ stylish goddaughter, is appalled by the trend of women dressing too casually at the airport.

‘I’ve noticed other passengers wandering through terminals lately embracing comfort, with outfits that look more appropriate for spin class than airport, with an alarming amount of midriffs and Lycra on enthusiastic display,’ complains the 58-year-old entrepreneur, who was among Princess Diana’s bridesmaids.

‘Convenience is apparently chic these days. Not only ease of clothing, but also ease of life. We must be careful… Ease gives way to reluctance to make any effort, and this is a slippery slope. Next thing you know, you’re sitting on the couch in your tracksuits, ordering everything you eat, wear and use.’

King Charles’ stylish goddaughter India Hicks is appalled by the trend of women dressing too casually at the airport

Sir Rocco’s son performs first of two weddings

Charles Forte knows a thing or two about hosting celebrations, as his father is one of Britain’s best-known hoteliers.

And the son of businessman Sir Rocco Forte decided to get married not once but twice.

Charles, 34, exchanged wedding vows with bag designer Georgie Wright in an intimate ceremony at Chelsea’s Old Town Hall this week.

‘There were only 20 of us there,’ says filmmaker Amanda Eliasch, a friend of Charles’s Italian-born mother, Aliai. ‘It was a very nice ceremony.’ The couple will perform the honor again next week at a lavish wedding at Palermo Cathedral in Sicily.

Charles was named after his grandfather, Lord Forte, owner of Trusthouse Forte, who was a close ally of Margaret Thatcher.

Charles exchanged wedding vows with bag designer Georgie Wright in an intimate ceremony at Chelsea’s Old Town Hall this week. The couple will perform the honor again next week at a lavish wedding at Palermo Cathedral in Sicily

Rower James’s wife is on pole position

If crowds gather outside a house in an elegant corner of west London, I can find an explanation.

Olympic double gold medalist James Cracknell had a 2.5-metre pole installed in the front room of his home so his wife, Jordan Connell, could pole dance.

The 42-year-old American-born finance boss had been taking lessons since January and wanted to practice at home.

‘There’s a big white pole in the living room,’ he tells me. ‘It looks very modern and stylish and is a great party conversation starter.’

It will come as a surprise to rowing champion Cracknell, 53, whom Jordan married in 2021 following the end of his marriage to GB News presenter Bev Turner, with whom he has three children.

‘He’s been in a training camp and hasn’t seen the pole yet but I’m sure that won’t be a problem for him.’

Hamilton’s place in the sun isn’t much fun

Laura Hamilton struggles to cope with Spanish authorities’ lax attitude towards construction plans

Laura Hamilton, who has been showing Brits round holiday homes as the presenter of A Place In The Sun for more than a decade, took the chance and bought her own property abroad in 2024.

However, the 43-year-old presenter, who bought a house on the island of Majorca, has now discovered the dark side of foreign investment. He is struggling to cope with the lax attitude of Spanish authorities towards his construction plans.

‘I’m renovating a house, which is a very slow process,’ he says. ‘Spanish rules and regulations are very different. ‘They are incredibly slow at issuing permits and it’s quite frustrating.’

Poet laureate Simon Armitage is reviving his musical sideline, a ‘post-rock’ trio called LYR. Their new rain-themed album, Dark Sky Reservation, was completed before the UK experienced 40 days of continuous rain earlier this year. ‘If we had realized we were going to be so prophetic, we would have written an album about gold bullion,’ the royal wordsmith laments.

Anya looks to the stars for her magical 30th birthday

I’m not sure what the Brummie gangsters from Peaky Blinders would make of this.

Anya Taylor-Joy, who plays Gina, the scheming American wife of Tommy Shelby’s cousin Michael Gray in the popular BBC series, celebrated her 30th birthday with an eccentric, mystical-themed party in Los Angeles.

The Emma actress wore a tulle gown with floral embellishments, made by Rodarte in the USA.

The Miami-born actress wore a gorgeous tulle dress with floral embellishments, produced by US clothing brand Rodarte.

Her friends, including Paris Hilton, joined her as she sliced ​​her cake in the shape of a ram’s head, representing the zodiac sign Aries.

Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly will no longer be hosting Strictly Come Dancing when it returns in the autumn, but they will still be together.

“Tess and I already planned this,” Claudia says. ‘We eat jacket potatoes, I eat salmon, he comes to ours, him and Vernon [Kay, Tess’s husband]We will watch, support and love on September 19th.’

Speaking at the Lira Winston Fellowships at St John’s Wood Synagogue in London, she revealed she was working on career opportunities for her children Jake, 23, Matilda, 19, and Arthur, 14. ‘I told them to make nepo,’ he says. ‘They say, ‘No, thank you, Mum.’

As Jack Whitehall prepares to marry model Roxy Horner today, the comedian’s father, retired theatrical agent Michael, remembers the client he had to abandon for being such a prima donna.

‘I got rid of someone because I thought he was very difficult and then he became quite famous,’ says Whitehall. ‘So we’re not talking about Cary Grant… although his name is Grant… Richard E Grant.’

Asked if Withnail And I star Grant, 68, has gotten better with age, Whitehall says: ‘I think he has but unfortunately I haven’t been in touch with him. ‘Everything has fallen apart a bit, our relationship.’

Are Teddies preparing for the royal arrival?

Exciting chatter reaches me from the £59,496-a-year St Edward’s School in Oxford; It’s perhaps the most exciting since actress Florence Pugh showed off her brilliant talents there as a teenager.

This time the gossip has no connection to ‘Flossie’, as the Oscar-nominated Oppenheimer star was known as ‘Teddies’, the school’s enduring nickname, but was instead inspired by ‘security upgrades’. These might seem inconsequential if Prince William and Catherine hadn’t secretly visited the Teddies in 2024, as I explained.

‘New gates are being built,’ one Teddies enthusiast told me, adding that the old ‘rubbish’ single track road leading to the Nuffield gym was being upgraded to two lanes.

Are you fit for a future king? Maybe, but I’m sure Teddies’ extraordinaire headmaster – ‘Headmaster’, as the Teddies call him – is not expecting to count Prince George among his student body come September, 39-year-old Etonian Elder Alastair Chirnside.

Unless, of course, Chirnside, who was awarded ‘First Congratulations’ in Classics and French at Oxford, returns to Eton as Head Master.