'I wish I could tell you of my pure animal pleasure of you': Elizabeth Taylor's steamy letter to Richard Burton goes up for auction

  • Letter written on March 15 1974, the couple's 10th anniversary
  • Has a minimum bid of £1,000 and is expected to sell for several times more
  • Bidding ends on December 12 at 7.09pm

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 06:34 EST, 28 November 2013 | UPDATED: 20:46 EST, 28 November 2013


Fifty years after their scandalous affair rocked the world, the romance between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton is still regarded as one of the most passionate of all time.

And little wonder, judging by a love letter from Miss Taylor to Burton, written only days before their first marriage broke up.

In the letter, which is set to be sold at auction, the actress describes her ‘pure animal lust’ for Burton, and confesses that she can only ‘boil and bubble’ inside at the thought of him.

She wrote the note on the tenth anniversary of their first marriage.

Elizabeth's devotion: 'I wish I could tell you of my love for you, of my fear, my delight'

Elizabeth's devotion: 'I wish I could tell you of my love for you, of my fear, my delight'

In it, she also describes her jealousy, a possible reference to his reported affairs with movie co-stars Genevieve Bujold and Mary Ure.

 

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The letter was found inside a book left behind at a house in Oroville, California, that Burton and Miss Taylor rented while he was filing The Klansman.

It is dated March 15, 1974, when Miss Taylor was 42 and Burton was 48.

It begins: ‘My darling (my still) My husband. I wish I could tell you of my love for you, of my fear, my delight, my pure animal pleasure of you.’

True love: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in The Comedians, 1967

True love: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in The Comedians, 1967

In her own words: Taylor's note to Burton

'My darling (my still) My husband.

'I wish I could tell you of my love for you, of my fear, my delight, my pure animal pleasure of you - (with you) - my jealousy, my pride, my anger at you, at times. Most of all my love for you, and whatever love you can dole out to me - I wish I could write about it but I can't.

'I can only 'boil and bubble' inside and hope you understand how I really feel. Anyway I lust thee,

'Your (still) Wife.

'P.S. O'Love, let us never take each other for granted again!

'P.P.S. How about that - 10 years!!'

It ends with two post-scripts:  ‘P.S.O’Love, let us never take each other for granted again! P.P.S. How about that – 10 years!!’

Their lease on the Oroville home began on February 15, 1974. Miss Taylor’s note is accompanied by a letter of provenance from Toni Hennings, the woman who rented the house to them.

It says: ‘This letter written by Elizabeth Taylor while renting my home from Feb 15th til April 18th 1974. It was left behind – inside a book in a drawer under the master bedroom bed.’

The couple met in 1960, when they were filming Cleopatra together. Burton, who grew up in a mining community in South Wales, was married to his first wife Sybil at the time, while American-raised Taylor was with her fourth husband, Eddie Fisher.

Their affair caused public outrage and was condemned by the Vatican. The couple, who had a  tempestuous relationship, married in 1963.

Enlarge   Taylor at a gala with husband Burton: 'Let us never take eachother for granted' she wrote

Taylor at a gala with husband Burton: 'Let us never take eachother for granted' she wrote

They divorced in 1974 but remarried the next year, although that marriage also broke down, and they divorced again in 1976. Burton, who battled alcoholism for decades, died from a brain haemorrhage at the age of 58 in 1984.

Miss Taylor married twice more, and died of heart failure in 2011 at the age of 79.

The letter is being sold by online auctioneers picollecta.com, and is expected to fetch several thousand pounds. Bidding is due to end on December 12.

Comments (68)

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She looks amazing in that last photo. Very beautiful woman.

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Love these two! Richard Burton was the worlds greatest talent!

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Ahhh! Yes! True love! Well, at the moment it was. Then, she went on to marry 8 times total...twice to Burton. There is a name for a woman like her and she wore it well!

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Animal passion? I thought Burton drank too much? Long term heavy drinking reduces passion to zero along with long term smoking. Hollywood loves hype and a couple of drinking ashtrays don't fit the picture..

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Whilst too much alcohol can reduce the libido, long term smoking does no such thing. Your unkind and rude remarks about two very famous Hollywood stars from a bygone age is totally unnecessary and uncalled for.

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Pandoea Truth and legend are two different things and if you lived in Beverly hills you would know that better than most people."Smoking has a direct, negative effect on the sexuality of a man on every level," says Panayiotis M. Zavos, PhD, director of the Andrology Institute of America and professor of reproductive physiology and andrology at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.From their work with couples being treated for infertility, Zavos and his fellow researchers have found that men's smoking had a significant and negative effect on the ability to conceive. But they also turned up a surprise: Smoking significantly diminished a man's sexual desire and satisfaction -- even for young men in their 20s and 30s.Educate yourself before you comment

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Fascinating zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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So why did you read the article if you find it boring?

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I said I found it fascinating.Why do you care?

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I don't think a person's private letters should ever be auctioned off (even though I know they're interesting)

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And they all lived happy ever after,.

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she was stunning.

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Always praised for her beauty but apparently unstable. Every interview I had seen her in she appeared high on something even in her late years.

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Her "love" letter is a veiled threat to him. She refers to his as My Darling (my still) Husband. This implies she wants to divorce him.

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