Love Letters Shed Light on Taylor-Burton Romance

Forget Brangelina, TomKat, and Speidi: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were the celebrity couple. The July issue of Vanity Fair includes excerpts from the upcoming book Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger, including never-before-seen love letters. A sampling, via the Huffington Post:

• Burton's last letter: Written days before his death, it was the only one Taylor wouldn't allow to be published. In it, Burton says he was happiest with Taylor and asks for another chance.

• His love for her: "If you leave me I shall have to kill myself. There is no life without you," and in another, "The fundamental and most vicious, swinish, murderous, and unchangeable fact is that we totally misunderstand each other."
• Her acting talent: "You are probably the best actress in the world, which, combined with your extraordinary beauty, makes you unique."
• His nicknames for her: "My Lumps," "Dearest Scrupelshrumpilstilskin," and "Twit Twaddle etc."
• Her letter to him upon remarrying: "Dearest Hubs, How about that! You really are my husband again, and I have news for thee, there bloody will be no more marriages—or divorces, either. Yours truly, Wife."

(More Richard Burton stories.)