Taylor Swift is reportedly heading to the UK next week to film the second music video for her 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl.
The top-secret shoot will allegedly be for her hit track, Elizabeth Taylor, with the pop star, 35, specifically wanting to film in London in order to pay tribute to the titular star’s British roots.
The singer dedicated the second song on her most recent album to Elizabeth, dropping many references to the late screen icon in the lyrics.
And according to new reports, Taylor plans to pay homage to Elizabeth by incorporating the city in which she was born, into the accompanying music video.
The acting legend, known for her roles in Cleopatra, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, was born in Hampstead, North London in 1932, before moving to Los Angeles when she was seven-years-old.
A source told The Sun: ‘Taylor is super excited to be back in London filming for her new music video.
Taylor Swift is reportedly heading to the UK next week to film the second music video for her 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl
The top-secret shoot will allegedly be for her hit track, Elizabeth Taylor (pictured 1950), with the pop star, 35, specifically wanting to film in London in order to pay tribute to the titular star’s British roots
And according to new reports, Taylor plans to pay homage to Elizabeth by incorporating the city in which she was born, into the accompanying music video (seen last week)
‘Elizabeth Taylor is a British icon and Taylor wants to pay homage by shooting scenes in the capital.
‘Taylor has always written about her love for London, and the video will capture different locations around the city.’
The song, Elizabeth Taylor, is full of references to the famed actress including a nod to her famously ‘violet eyes’, and mention of ‘white diamonds’, in reference to her 1991 fragrance of the same name.
Taylor also draws parallels between her own romantic history and Elizabeth’s own troubles in her love life, with the starlet famously having no fewer than eight marriages to seven different men.
Taylor sings: ‘Been number one, but I never had two’ – referring to their shared success in the world of showbusiness (implying a number one hit), but without a ‘two’ – a partner to share it with.
The track also includes the line ‘a view of Portofino’, the Italian seaside town that was one of the screen icon’s favourite getaways, and Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris, which frequently hosted Elizabeth and Richard as guests.
Taylor’s also said ‘Portofino Orange’ is the colour of the Showgirl era, and also wore the bright shade frequently during the latter shows of the Eras tour, which wrapped last December.
The acting legend, known for her roles in Cleopatra, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, was born in Hampstead, North London in 1932, before moving to Los Angeles when she was seven-years-old (seen in 1954)
As Swifties will know, her latest album is not the first time the Blank Space hitmaker has referenced Elizabeth (seen last year)
The Eras artist opened up about the meaning of the song in a recent Z100 radio interview.
She explained: ‘In this record, there’s a song called Elizabeth Taylor, which is sort of my emotions and my issues with fame through the lens of cosplaying the life of Elizabeth Taylor, so you kind of meld the two experiences together.’
Gushing over her admiration for the late legend, Taylor added: ‘She is always someone that I’ve looked up to as being this very glamorous, very beloved, but for some reason a polarizing figure — which, [I’ve] found myself in that place, too.’
As Swifties will know, her latest album is not the first time the Blank Space hitmaker has referenced Elizabeth.
Taylor previously gave a nod to her mid-century movie star aesthetic in the music video for Wildest Dreams.
And on her 2018 Reputation album, she directly referenced Elizabeth’s famously turbulent love affair with actor Richard Burton, with the lyric ‘Burton to my Taylor’ in song, Ready For It?.
Not only that, but Taylor named dropped Elizabeth in an Instagram video in 2023, when her friend, Kayleigh Teller gifted her an opal ring, and she responded: ‘This is a present for Elizabeth Taylor, not for me!’
And on her 2018 Reputation album, she directly referenced Elizabeth’s famously turbulent love affair with actor Richard Burton (seen together in 1963), with the lyric ‘Burton to my Taylor’ in song, Ready For It?
Elizabeth’s youngest son, Christopher Wilding, 72, has even spoken of the connection between the two celebrity starlets after Taylor revealed she was naming a song after his mother.
He told People last month that he was deeply touched by the tribute, calling the singer’s nods to his mother ‘especially magical.’
Christopher added: ‘She and my mom do seem like kindred spirits. They are both the very embodiment of female empowerment. The way [Taylor] has deftly captured the similarities and parallel tracks in their careers and personal lives is delightful.’
He even said that he believes Taylor would have got on with his mother, who died in 2011, aged 79, from congestive heart failure.
