"F***ing hearts!"

At the Independent, Bee Wilson on the eccentricities of Elizabeth Taylor in later life as revealed by William Mann's new biography:

During her marriage to Fisher, she was getting through a pack of cigarettes a day “and never used the same holder”. Her butler had to prepare a special box of holders each day, colour-co-ordinated not just with her outfits but with any tablecloths she might come into contact with. When she and Burton were in Mexico, she flew in the wife of her London chauffeur just to cook them a couple of meals of roast pork. Her hypochondria was stupendous. She once called in sick complaining of a severe injury caused by wearing tight breeches. She consumed jewels as casually as cups of coffee and thought nothing of asking a friend to fly to Switzerland to buy her a house, before summarily calling him back to play cards with her: “Just buy the damn thing so you can get back here and we can play f***ing hearts!”