Elizabeth Taylor’s Son Recalls ‘Unpleasant Taunts’ About Mom’s Sex Life

Elizabeth Taylor’s son had a tough time growing up with his mother’s name in the headlines.

Christopher Wilding — the star’s son with her second husband, Michael Wilding — appears in the new three-part BBC documentary series Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar. In episode 2, which premiered on Oct. 4, he discusses what it was like when his mother was receiving intense media attention for her passionate romance with Richard Burton.

Taylor and Welsh actor fell for each other while filming their roles as Cleopatra and Antony in the 1963 film Cleopatra, despite being married to others at the time. Burton ended his marriage to first wife Sybil Williams in 1963, while Taylor would split from Eddie Fisher, who had left his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, for Taylor, in March 1964.

“I understood the attention they got because they were kind of this weird phenomenon. After a certain point, there was no way to avoid the media interest. It was just too juicy a story. It was a drag. It was a huge drag,” Wilding recalls.

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He then goes on to discuss his time at boarding school and how he’d read the magazines to keep up with what what going on with his mom, the same way her fans did.

“All the other kids know about these stories. I’d hear unpleasant taunts [like,] ‘Well your mother just likes to sleep with a lot of guys,’ whatever. It was just awkward,” Wilding admits.

“When I was older, she expressed regret,” he adds. “She felt like she hadn’t been a great mom. But I felt like she was a good mother. It wasn’t easy to do.”

Taylor’s granddaughter Naomi Wilding also appears in the docuseries, and she says she believes the attention was “addictive” for her grandmother.

“From the youngest age, all of her validation came about from that visibility. She created celebrity the way that we see it now. She was always giving material. There was so much to be seen. She wasn’t hiding,” she says.

Kim Kardashian — who, at age 29, conducted Taylor’s final interview before her death in 2011 and serves as executive producer of the documentary series — says she can relate to the screen legend’s struggles as a superstar and a mother.

“You don’t plan this life for your kids. You’re an adult, you can handle it, but you don’t know which one of your babies can really handle it, so I think it’s really hard on a family,” she explains in the episode. “I think when people open themselves up to that scrutiny, it’s really hard just on your soul.”

Chris Wilding offers the final word on the subject, noting, “I get it, but having seen it from both sides, that’s a deal with the devil that’s really not worth it, in my opinion.”

Episode 3 of Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar airs Oct. 11 on the BBC.