Now that she has gone, the focus falls on the man on whom she relied in her final years, Jason Winters.

She was so close to Winters — tall, handsome and 28 years her junior — that there was repeated speculation that he was to become the eighth Mr Elizabeth Taylor.

The gossip about what would have been a ninth nuptials (she married Burton twice) made her laugh because Winters runs a talent agency with his partner Erik Sterling. He is said by associates to be ‘100 per cent gay’.

He may yet, though, be the heir to her fortune — estimated at £360 million, which he will administer via a trust to her Aids charity. They met via her work for Aids victims in the late 1990s and their friendship blossomed. She took several holidays at his home in Hawaii.

Her four children — Michael and Christopher Wilding, Lisa Todd and Maria Burton — believe that he will get her cash when the will is read, which could be next week.