David O'Halloran

Elizabeth Taylor’s visits the local pub I'll never forget hearing a story about Elizabeth Taylor. It was told to me by someone who knew the chauffeur she used whenever she visited the UK. Taylor wasn't just any celebrity - she was a woman so famous that film critic Barry Norman once said that if you showed her photograph to a thousand people they would all recognise her. During her years with Richard Burton, she was arguably the most famous woman in the world. Yet, every year, on the anniversary of Burton's death, she would drop whatever she was doing and go on a pilgrimage to Wales. The chauffeur would drive her the long distance from London to visit Burton's family. Once at her destination, she didn’t behave like a movie star. She didn't hide in a hotel. She spent her evenings in the local pub, sitting with the villagers, sharing stories, laughing at their jokes and telling her own. She would recite a silly poem about a waiter and two hard boiled eggs, which all the locals loved. And unlike some famous people I’ve known, who make a habit of “forgetting” their wallets or purses, she insisted on buying a round of drinks - sometimes two or three. She had no pretensions, and never brought an entourage with her. She was just a woman honouring the memory of someone she loved, surrounded by the people who had also loved him.