The yacht on which Richard Burton wooed and won Elizabeth Taylor is on the market – for just £4 million. The Kalizma, a 165-foot Edwardian motor yacht, was bought by the Welsh actor for his beautiful lilac-eyed love in 1967 and named after his three children, Kate, Liza and Maria. It was also where Richard presented his other half with one of her most spectacular pieces of jewellery – a 69.4-carat diamond ring.
The 92-year-old vessel has been through several owners since Richard and Liz, one of the best-known celebrity couples of le beau monde sold it in 1974, and has undergone a face-lift since the days of Liz and the man she married twice. Then, according to the hard-living actor’s diaries, the couple had “the Monet in the living room or salon, the Picasso and the Van Gogh in the dining room” as they sailed their way around the Mediterranean.
The Kalizma’s current owner, Indian brewing heir Vijay Mallya, has spent a seven-figure sum on refurbishments and, following two years of modernisation in Dubai – including the installation of a state-of-the-art entertainment suite and satellite communication technology – she is now in the hands of a London yacht broker.
Jeremy Chubb, who is handling the sale, said that most of the boat’s original features still exist. “It is out in the Middle East in the final stages of a long refit to rebuild the yacht to its original state,” he said. “This is expected to be completed by the end of next month. She is being used by the owners over Christmas in India and is due back in the Mediterranean by late April 2002.”
Another of the boat’s owners was Peter de Savary, the British entrepreneur who owns Skibo Castle, the fairy-tale venue where hip couple of the moment Madonna and Guy Ritchie tied the knot last year. “I will always remember lying in this huge six-foot pink bath on the yacht, thinking of Elizabeth Taylor,” he reminisced. “Kalizma is one of the great classic yachts sailing around the world today and it was a great privilege to have owned it.”
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
