"Private? What makes you think my life is private?"

One of the most well-liked gals around is Miss Elizabeth Taylor. Sure Debbie Reynolds is probably not her biggest fan, but during her career spanning more than half and century, Miss Taylor has counted more best friends than husbands (!) Throughout her life she has counted Montgomery Clift, Rock Hudson, Grace Kelly, Michael Jackson, Liza Minnelli, Jane Powell, among others, as her closest friends.

I have long been a great fan of Elizabeth Taylor's. Ever since I saw her in National Velvet when I was a horse-obsessed six-year-old, I have longed to be like her. There is a definite charming quality in Elizabeth's presence, seen onscreen as well as off. She is always the most beautiful and enchanting person around, bar none.

How to be like Elizabeth Taylor:

• Start a collection. Elizabeth is known worldwide for her large collection of jewels. She has written a book about her "love affair" with jewelry, though is not against parting with certain pieces if the cause is right. She sold her 69.42 carat ring from Richard Burton in an auction in order to raise money for her politician love John Warner.
• Love animals. Elizabeth has called her many pets (from puppies to a chipmunk named Nibbles that she wrote a book about when she was a teenager) her best friends. She also shares her love - she gave James Dean a Siamese kitten he named Marcus shortly before the actor's death.
• Crusade for a cause close to your heart. After close friend Rock Hudson lost his battle with AIDS, she founded the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
• Be business-savvy. Elizabeth was the first actress to be paid one million dollars (for her role in Cleopatra), and has been quoted as saying "If someone is dumb enough to offer me a million dollars to make a picture, I'm certainly not dumb enough to turn it down."
• Live by love and virtue. Elizabeth was an honest believer in finding love. "You don't start a movie expecting to crash," she has said, "You get married expecting it to be forever. That's why you get married." Despite being married eight times, Elizabeth has said "I've only slept with men I've been married to. How many women can make that claim?"
• Be humble and, most importantly, be yourself. Elizabeth has admitted, "I don't think I am a beautiful woman. Ava Gardner is. I think Audrey Hepburn is. But the way I look is all right with me. Because I want to be me. I don't take vitamins or do exercise. I can lose weight when I want to, mainly by just not eating."