Elizabeth Taylor’s granddaughter fondly recalled how her legendary grandmother had a flair for spoiling her during the holidays in her childhood.
Naomi Wilding, daughter of Elizabeth’s eldest son, Michael Wilding Jr., recounted one particularly lavish holiday she spent at Taylor’s Los Angeles home while staying there temporarily due to her mother’s illness.
‘That stay coincided with Christmas,’ Naomi told People, explaining that the holiday with her glamorous grandmother meant a truly unforgettable showering of gifts.
‘I remember falling asleep next to the tree in the living room and waking up to the sight of dozens of boxes addressed to me under the tree,’ she said.
The gifts, all from Saks Fifth Avenue, included a ‘silk nightdress and dressing gown by Christian Dior, dresses by YSL, Chanel, and Dior, as well as jackets and outfits by Saks.’
Naomi added, ‘They were all exquisite and completely impractical for the rural life I would go back to, but I loved them.’
Elizabeth Taylor ’s granddaughter Naomi Wilding fondly recalled how her legendary grandmother had a flair for spoiling her during the holidays in her childhood
Naomi Wilding, daughter of Elizabeth’s eldest son, Michael Wilding Jr., recounted one particularly lavish holiday she spent at Taylor’s Los Angeles home while staying there temporarily due to her mother’s illness; (pictured 2021)
To haul her opulent wardrobe home, Naomi had to buy a trunk, though her time with the treasures was fleeting.
‘As I grew out of the clothes, they would be handed down to the numerous local girls that lived nearby, despite my protests,’ she said.
‘Granny liked to spoil me!’
Naomi’s father Michael was the first-born son of Elizabeth and her second husband, British actor Michael Wilding.
Taylor married Wilding in 1952 when she was just 19 and he was 20 years her senior.
Their five-year marriage ended in 1957, and they had two sons together, Michael Jr. and Christopher.
Taylor’s personal life was as legendary as her Hollywood career.
Known for her beauty, talent, and tumultuous love affairs, she married eight times to seven men and had four children.
After divorcing Wilding, she married film producer Mike Todd, who tragically died in a plane crash in 1958.
Together, they had one daughter, Elizabeth ‘Liza’ Todd.
‘I remember falling asleep next to the tree in the living room and waking up to the sight of dozens of boxes addressed to me under the tree,’ she said; (pictured in 2015)
The gifts, all from Saks Fifth Avenue, included a ‘silk nightdress and dressing gown by Christian Dior, dresses by YSL, Chanel , and Dior, as well as jackets and outfits by Saks,’ Naomi added; (Michael Wilding and Taylor in 1955)
Naomi added, ‘They were all exquisite and completely impractical for the rural life I would go back to, but I loved them,’ (Michael and Elizabeth in 1951)
Elizabeth with her two sons Michael Howard and Christopher that she had when she was married to Michael Wilding
Her fourth and fifth marriages were to Richard Burton, her Cleopatra co-star, with whom she shared one of Hollywood’s most famous and tempestuous romances.
During her time with Burton, Taylor adopted her youngest daughter, Maria McKeown.
In total, her four children—Michael, Christopher, Liza, and Maria—eventually gave her 10 grandchildren.
Naomi, born and raised in West Wales, is one of those 10 grandchildren.
She moved to Los Angeles in 2000 to be closer to family and began a career as a fashion stylist before co-founding Wilding Cran Gallery with her husband, Anthony Cran, in 2014.
The gallery, based in the Los Angeles Arts District, supports social causes through arts education programming and philanthropic work.
Like her grandmother, Naomi carries on Taylor’s legacy of giving, serving as an ambassador for The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, which continues to raise millions for HIV/AIDS advocacy.
Elizabeth spent her final years battling congestive heart failure while remaining active in her philanthropy.
She passed away on March 23, 2011, at the age of 79, surrounded by her family at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.