The ballad of Burton and Taylor

Celebrity marriages and divorces are nothing new. They are the personal relationship collapses of people like you and me but because they are famous you generally find it spread all over the papers and the internet. It is difficult for entertainers and celebrities to keep a sane head and a stable relationship at the best of times but in this modern age of continual media coverage this is even harder. It was ever thus. Although they are not thought of or spoken about as much now the two marriages of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Talyor were one of the most covered and talked about in history.

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Both were on a few marriages already when they met. They were no stranger to the services of what can be provided by say a Family Law Gloucester specialist company for example. The two met on set in 1963 on the historical epic (in every sense of the word) Cleopatra. Taylor was the famed Egyptian Queen and Burton was Mark Antony her love interest. This on screen romance was openly off screen and  became very public so much so that the Pope got annoyed and condemned it. The worlds media hounded them for it. Not that Burton and Taylor cared. They were in love and did not hang about divorcing their respective partners and by 1964 they were married. The diamond that Burton got her for the ring was supposed to have cost a million pounds.

You can see in the pictures from the time the deep love that each held for each other. It is an intensity that is rarely matched by those in the public eye nowadays. It can be clearly seen in their eyes and such a romance has not been since.  They acted together in several films, The Sandpiper and Who’s Afraid of Viginina Woolf? Both reflected the difficult relationship they were having off screen. At some points it is hard to know where the acting stops or we are watching metaphors for their lives. Both had issues. Taylor, ever the diva had tantrums that we would now consider to be borderline bi-polar. The mercurial Burton, although brilliant need alcohol to frequently to fuel himself.

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In 1974 the unthinkable to some, inevitable to others, happened when they divorced. Burton having an affair being the last straw. Despite this they would find love again and remarried in 1975 confirming there forever love but it was not to last and they began to fight again and in 1982 they divorced for the second and final time. However, they remained close friends and affectionate towards each other.

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