Elizabeth Taylor 'sleeps with picture of Richard Burton'

Hollywood veteran Elizabeth Taylor still sleeps with a photograph of ex-husband Richard Burton by her bedside, his niece said today.

Eight-times married Dame Elizabeth, 77, still misses Burton greatly and her home in Bel Air, California, is adorned with his pictures, according to Sian Owen.

Soul mates: Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor

The English-born actress, who married the Welshman twice, believed they would marry again and were soul mates, Ms Owen said.

"I was in America last summer and I went to see Elizabeth," she said.

"In the house in Bel Air I saw pictures of Uncle Rich everywhere and it's a picture of Uncle Rich that's by her bed still.

"Even when he was married to Sally (Hay, between 1983 and 1984) and living in Switzerland, he would talk for hours on the phone with Elizabeth and I would say to Sally that I would never put up with that but she didn't have much choice.

"She still says, had he lived, that they'd be back together once again - that it would have been third time lucky. They were mad about each other.

"She believes that in the last years in their lives, when everything had been toned down with the drinking and everything else, she believes that they'd be together. She's certain of that, they were soul mates."

Burton died 25 years ago when he was just 58. His achievements are to be marked at the first Denbigh Film Festival in north Wales.

Burton's first film, The Last Days Of Dolwyn, will be shown at the festival - being held at Theatr Twm o'r Nant, in Denbigh, from October 16 to 18.

It is 60 years since the film was released. Ms Owen said: "There's a huge interest in him even 25 years after his death but he was more than a great actor.

"I was in his company a lot and he always held the floor, even at dinner parties with the likes of John Gielgud and Larry Olivier.

"There was something magnetic about him, he was a wonderful raconteur. He always took a true story and stretched it a little bit to make it a bit more interesting for people.

"I had a fantastic time with them, especially the Elizabeth years - it was great love story."