Elizabeth Taylor wed a total of eight times, twice to Richard Burton. Monday marked what would have been the 41st anniversary of their second wedding-a wildly romantic secret ceremony in a national park in Botswana in 1975, just 16 months after they divorced. The love affair of the world's most famous couple was dubbed "the marriage of the century," but perhaps Burton put it best when he said, "You haven't lived unless you've known Elizabeth." In honor of Liz and Dick, here are five things you may not have known about Elizabeth Taylor.
1. The Cartier diamond Burton bought Taylor for $1.1 million would have gone to Jacqueline Kennedy had Burton not outbid Aristotle Onassis. "I wanted that diamond because it is incomparably lovely," Burton later said. "And it should be on the loveliest woman in the world. I would have had a fit if it went to Jackie Kennedy or Sophia Loren." The 68-carat sparkler became known as the "Taylor-Burton diamond," and when it was later placed on exhibit in the jeweler's gallery in New York, as many as 6,000 people a day came to view it. Although Taylor's fourth husband, Eddie Fisher, once said that a $50,000 diamond could keep Taylor happy for approximately four days, Taylor explained her materialism should never be confused for vanity. "You can't cry on a diamond's shoulder, and diamonds won't keep you warm at night," she said. "But they're sure fun when the sun shines."