Introducing The Elizabeth Taylor Archive

For the first time, The Elizabeth Taylor Estate is giving a sneak peek into our vast archive and sharing a select number of items from Elizabeth’s life, offering an intimate look into the legacy of one of Hollywood's most enduring icons. Including previously unseen personal correspondence, legendary jewelry pieces, iconic film costumes, and other rare artifacts, these archival pieces chronicle Elizabeth's remarkable journey from child star to cultural icon to pioneering AIDS activist. 

Each entry in the archive is more than just an item —with each of these pieces comes an important story. A yellow wedding dress worn for her marriage to Richard Burton is not just a dress, but a symbol of one of Hollywood’s most talked-about romances, cultural scandals, and triumphs. An award for excellence in fragrance isn’t just a statue, it's representative of her legendary foray into business where she paved the way for modern celebrity branding. And a scrapbook of newspaper clippings isn’t just a record of her fight against AIDS, it's a love letter to those people that she protected and cared for. For Elizabeth, it was always about people.

Though she meticulously preserved  her possessions, Elizabeth was less concerned with how they could architect her legacy, remaining more focused on creating work and products that felt authentic to her. Yet those close to her, like lifelong friend Roddy McDowell, an archivist in his own right, urged Elizabeth and her team to save everything from electric bills to elegant gowns, knowing future generations would show interest and find meaning in them for decades and perhaps centuries to follow. Since she is no longer with us, we feel strongly that it is our responsibility to act as stewards of these items that collectively serve as a record of her unshakable humanity and undeniable impact on society.

This archive allows us to see Elizabeth Taylor in her complexity: not just as a dazzling star on the screen, but as a woman who exemplified resilience, reshaped public discourse, and throughout it all, retained a sincere belief in the power of human connection. It reflects Elizabeth’s deep humanity; her ability to remain authentic, generous, and connected even while living at the epicenter of fame. Far more than memorabilia, these objects connect us not only to Elizabeth’s life, but to the cultural and emotional impact she has had and will continue to have, for years to come. 

Explore the Elizabeth Taylor Archive here.