Editing Richard Burton (section)

=== Marriages and relationships ===
Burton was married five times, twice consecutively to Taylor.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-21638950 | title=Richard Burton star unveiled on Hollywood Walk of Fame | publisher=BBC | date=2 March 2013 | access-date=8 January 2017 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20170108104407/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-21638950 | archive-date=8 January 2017 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all }}</ref>

From 1949 until 1963, he was married to [[Sybil Christopher|Sybil Williams]], with whom he had two daughters, [[Kate Burton (actress)|Kate]] (born 1957) and Jessica Burton (born 1959).{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|pp=128–129}} During the marriage Burton had a long affair with actress [[Claire Bloom]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Claire Bloom reveals her passion for the 'hypnotic' Richard Burton |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/showbiz/claire-bloom-reveals-passion-hypnotic-2503334 |website=www.walesonline.co.uk |publisher=Wales Online |access-date=29 March 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Jeffries |first1=Stuart |title=Screen gods, guilt and glamour: actor Claire Bloom on her life in the limelight |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/dec/23/screen-gods-guilt-and-glamour-actor-claire-bloom-on-her-life-in-the-limelight |access-date=29 March 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=23 Dec 2016}}</ref> Burton told biographer [[Michael Munn]] "'I only ever loved two women before [[Elizabeth Taylor|Elizabeth]],' Sybil was one, Claire Bloom the other."<ref name="Munn">{{cite book|last=Munn|first=Michael|title=Richard Burton: Prince of Players|publisher=[[Skyhorse Publishing]]|year=2008|isbn=978-1602393554|url=https://archive.org/details/richardburtonpri00munn}}</ref>{{rp|52, 85}}

Burton's marriages to Taylor lasted from 15 March 1964 to 26 June 1974 and from 10 October 1975 to 29 July 1976. Their first wedding was at the [[Ritz-Carlton Montreal|Ritz-Carlton Hotel]] in Montreal.{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=139}} Of their marriage, Taylor proclaimed, "I'm so happy you can't believe it. This marriage will last forever."{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=140}} Their second wedding took place 16 months after their divorce, in [[Chobe National Park]] in Botswana. Taylor and Eddie Fisher adopted a daughter from Germany, Maria McKeown (born 1961), who was re-adopted by Burton after he and Taylor married. Burton also re-adopted Taylor and producer [[Mike Todd]]'s daughter, Elizabeth Frances "Liza" Todd (born 1957), who had been first adopted by Fisher.<ref name="Daytona" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/qampa-an-update-on-elizabeth-taylors-four-children/1064792|title=Q&A: An update on Elizabeth Taylor's four children|access-date=20 April 2011|date=12 January 2010|work=[[Tampa Bay Times]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170108110630/http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/qampa-an-update-on-elizabeth-taylors-four-children/1064792|archive-date=8 January 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The relationship Burton and Taylor portrayed in the film ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' was popularly likened to their real-life marriage.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} Burton disagreed with others about Taylor's famed beauty, saying that calling her "the most beautiful woman in the world is absolute nonsense. She has wonderful eyes, but she has a [[double chin]] and an overdeveloped chest, and she's rather short in the leg."<ref name="gussow20110323">{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/movies/elizabeth-taylor-obituary.html?_r=2&hp|title=Elizabeth Taylor, Lifelong Screen Star, Dies at 79|access-date=23 March 2011|author=Gussow, Mel|date=23 March 2011|work=The New York Times}}</ref> In August 1976, a month after his second divorce from Taylor, Burton married model [[Suzy Miller]], the former wife of Formula 1 Champion [[James Hunt]];<ref name="The Modesto Bee-22 August 1976">{{cite news|title=Richard Burton married model Susan Hunt in Arlington, Va.|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gEYhAAAAIBAJ&pg=5246%2C1864680|agency=AP|newspaper=The Modesto Bee|location=Modesto, California|date=22 August 1976|page=C-9|access-date=5 March 2011}}{{Dead link|date=July 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> the marriage ended in divorce in 1982. From 1983 until his death in 1984, Burton was married to a freelance production assistant [[Sally Burton|Sally Hay]].

In 1974, between his divorce from and remarriage to Taylor, he was briefly engaged to [[Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Weinraub|first=Judith|date=12 July 1991|title=The Princess's Awakening|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/07/12/the-princesss-awakening/863696cb-2983-499c-b330-3a4661f520cb/|access-date=3 May 2021}}</ref>

In 1957, Burton had earned a total of £82,000 from ''Prince of Players'', ''The Rains of Ranchipur'' and ''Alexander the Great'', but only managed to keep £6,000 for personal expenses due to taxation imposed by the then-ruling Conservative government. As a result, he consulted his lawyer, Aaron Frosch, who suggested he move to [[Switzerland]] where the tax payment was comparatively less. Burton acceded to Frosch's suggestion and moved with Sybil in January 1957 to [[Céligny]], Switzerland, where he purchased a villa.{{Sfnm|1a1=Alpert|1y=1986|1pp=75, 77|2a1=Bragg|2y=1988|2pp=106, 112}} In response to criticism from the British government, Burton remarked: "I believe that everyone should pay them — except actors."{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=78}} Burton lived there until his death.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wales/entries/ce7834d3-1e40-3389-855a-02392d9c0549 | title=The death of Richard Burton | last=Carradice | first=Phil | date=5 August 2014 | access-date=8 January 2017 | publisher=BBC | archive-url=https://archive.today/20170108094648/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wales/entries/ce7834d3-1e40-3389-855a-02392d9c0549 | archive-date=8 January 2017 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all }}</ref> In 1968, Burton's elder brother, Ifor, slipped and fell, breaking his neck, after a lengthy drinking session with Burton in Céligny. The injury left him paralysed from the neck down. His younger brother Graham Jenkins speculated that guilt over this may have caused Burton to start drinking very heavily, particularly after Ifor died in 1972.{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|pp=257–258, 411}}

In a February 1975 interview with his friend David Lewin, he said he "tried" homosexuality. He also suggested that perhaps all actors were latent homosexuals, and "we cover it up with drink".{{Sfnm|1a1=Ferris|1y=1981|1pp=249–250|2a1=Bragg|2y=1988|2p=258}} In 2000, [[Ellis Amburn]]'s biography of Elizabeth Taylor suggested that Burton had an affair with Olivier and tried to seduce Eddie Fisher, although this was strongly denied by Burton's younger brother Graham Jenkins.<ref>{{cite news|title=Anger at claim Burton was gay|publisher=BBC|date=10 April 2000|access-date=31 August 2009|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/708074.stm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170108115743/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/708074.stm|archive-date=8 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Burton admired and was inspired by the actor and dramatist [[Emlyn Williams]]. He employed his son, [[Brook Williams]], as his personal assistant and adviser, and he was given small roles in some of the films in which Burton starred.<ref>{{Cite web|date=18 July 2013|title=Brook Williams - Actor son of Emlyn and friend of the Burtons|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/brook-williams-225331.html|access-date=12 August 2021|website=[[The Independent]]|language=en}}</ref>