Taylor Swift and Elizabeth Taylor resonate in the pages of the press, on the silver screen, and in the mind of Christopher Wilding. Indeed, the son of the Cleopatra actress couldn't help but concur with the striking similarities between the Grammy winner and his mother after Taylor penned "Elizabeth Taylor" for The Life of a Showgirl. "She and my mom do seem like kindred spirits," Christopher, 70, admitted in an interview with People published on October 22. "Both are the very embodiment of female empowerment. The way [Swift] has deftly captured the similarities and parallel tracks in their careers and personal lives is delightful."
Christopher, along with his older brother Michael Wilding Jr., 72, also couldn't help but gush over the specific nods to his mother in The Life of a Showgirl track, which include reference to her iconic violet eyes, Portofino, and her signature scent White Diamonds. He described it as "especially magical."
While his mother, who is also mom to Liza Todd, 68, and Maria McKeown, 64, passed away in 2011 at the age of 79, Christopher is certain that the A Place in The Sun actress would be proud of the comparison. "Even as I believe my mother was for hers, Taylor Swift is an inspirational role model for her generation," Christopher added. "Her advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights as well as her philanthropic work would have garnered her great admiration from my mother had they had a chance to get to know one another."
For her part, Taylor admitted that she was inspired to pen the song when her parents Scott Swift and Andrea Swift sent her a prior interview where one of Elizabeth's sons compared the icons to each other. She had a subsequent fangirl session over it with her fiancé Travis Kelce. "I was so flattered by that when I read it," Taylor explained during an interview with Pandora shared on October 8. "I just immediately started talking to Travis about it. I was going on and on about Elizabeth Taylor—talking about all the things I love about her, all the things that made her so glamorous, funny, witty, and interesting."
The "Fate of Ophelia" singer was so suddenly inspired that she came up with a bit of the song right then and there. "I got out of the car," she recalled. "We were parked. I was like, 'I have to get out of the car for a second.' And I just sang this melody into my phone."
