Always a bride: Elizabeth Taylor

While she will always go down in history as being the violet-eyed star of the silver screen, Elizabeth Taylor also has another title: the celebrity who had been married the most. The iconic actress was married eight times in her life, twice to the same man.

“I am a very committed wife,” Taylor is famous for joking. “And I should be committed, too—for being married so many times.”

We take a look back at her numerous glamorous weddings…

1950-1951: Conrad ‘Nicky’ Hilton

A baby-faced 18-year-old Taylor wed Conrad ‘Nicky’ Hilton, heir to the Hilton Hotel fortune, in a large Los Angeles affair attended by 700 guests. Taylor wore a gown designed by Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer costume-designer Helen Rose, who famously went on to design Grace Kelly’s wedding dress.

Unfortunately the marriage did not last long; the couple split in January the following year.

1952-1957: Michael Wilding

Taylor didn’t stay single for long following her divorce. A year later, the starlet was married to British actor Michael Wilding. The bride went more casual this time around, wearing a modest suit with a fitted jacket and a knee-length flared skirt – once again designed by Helen Rose. Her trend-setting sapphire engagement ring inspired many brides for the years following.

Throughout the course of their five-year marriage, the pair had two children: Michael and Christopher. They divorced in 1957.

1957-1958: Michael Todd

Husband number three was American film producer Michael Todd. The pair said their ‘I do’s’ in Mexico in a ceremony officiated by the mayor of Acapulco. Not one to wear the same thing twice, Taylor went bold with a hooded gown. Husband-and-wife duo Eddie Fischer and Debbie Reynolds (parents of Carrie Fisher) served as the best man and matron-of-honour respectively.

This marriage was the only one of Taylor’s to not end in divorce; Todd tragically passed away in a private jet crash in 1958. Taylor was originally meant to be on the jet too, but at the last minute stayed home because of a cold. The couple share a daughter together named Liza.

1959-1964: Eddie Fisher

Distraught from losing her husband so suddenly, Taylor controversially found comfort in best man Eddie Fischer. The pair grew incredibly close, and ended up getting married in 1959 after Fischer left Debbie Reynolds. Elizabeth converted to Judaism, and the happy couple wed at the Temple Beth Shalom in Las Vegas. Once again, Taylor stunned in a green silk dress with a hood and long sleeves. In another unconventional move, Fisher proposed to Taylor with a 40-carat bracelet made with 50 diamonds.

This marriage, however, was not to be and the pair divorced in 1964.

1964-1974:Richard Burton

Taylor’s most famous relationship was with actor Richard Burton. The actors met while filming Cleopatra and began dating in secret. At the time, Burton was married to Welsh actress Sybil Williams and Taylor was still married to Fisher. Their relationship was made public when they were spotted together by paparazzi on a yacht in Italy. Their affair was an international scandal and was even condemned by the Vatican but that wouldn’t stop these love birds. Only nine days after officially splitting from Fischer, Taylor and Burton wed in Montreal, Canada in 1964. Sticking to her colourful train, Taylor wore a canary-yellow chiffon gown and stunning floral headdress – the original flower crown. In another unique choice, Burton decided against an engagement ring, instead proposing with a Bulgari brooch the bride wore on her wedding day.

This was her longest marriage by far, spanning 10 years in which the couple starred in eleven films together before calling it quits (or so we thought).

1975-1976: Richard Burton (again)

Burton and Taylor went for round two a year-and-a-half after their divorce, secretly renewing their vows in Botswana in October 1975. Taylor embraced the 70s aesthetic in a unique tie-dye dress. During this marriage, Burton gifted Taylor with the world famous Krupp Diamond, now known as the Elizabeth Taylor diamond, a generous 33.19 carats that sold for $8.8m after Taylors passing.

Of their love, Taylor famously said, “Our love is so furious that we burn each other out”. They divorced again the following July, officially closing the chapter on their book of love although Taylor has called Burton the love of her life.

1976 – 1982: John Warner

Tired of actors, Liz married senator John Warner in an intimate ceremony on his cattle farm in Virginia. For their big day, the bride wore a cashmere dress accessorised with a tweed and fur coat, and matching turban.

Unfortunately the politicians wife life was not for Liz; the couple divorced in 1982.

1991 – Larry Fortensky

Having been burnt a few times, Taylor took a near decade-long break from marriage before her eighth and final wedding to construction worker Larry Fortensky. The couple met at the Betty Ford rehabilitation clinic where Taylor had checked in for her struggles with alcoholism. The pair truly went all out for this star-studded event that was hosted at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch in Santa Ynez Valley, California and was attended by 160 guests, including famous faces like Liza Minnelli, Eddie Murphy, Nancy Reagan, Diane von Furstenberg, Quincy Jones, Macaulay Culkin, and Brooke Shields. Taylor said ‘I do’ in a pale yellow lace Valentino gown.

Unfortunately, this marriage was also not to be. Taylor and Fortensky split five years later.