10/12/2025
Before she was a Hollywood icon, Elizabeth Taylor was a little girl with violet eyes and a heart that belonged entirely to a horse — King Charles. He wasn’t just her co-star in National Velvet (1944); he was her confidant, her teacher, her first true love.
When Elizabeth first met him, she was only twelve. She later recalled, “He was proud, beautiful, and a little wild — just like I wanted to be.” During filming, the two formed a bond so deep that even the trainers were astonished. “It was like they were reading each other’s minds,” one crew member said.
Elizabeth refused to use a double for the riding scenes. She fell, bruised, and got back up each time. “I wanted to do it for him,” she explained years later. “When I rode King Charles, I felt free — like nothing in the world could touch me.”
When National Velvet wrapped, Elizabeth discovered that the studio planned to sell the horses. She cried for days. Finally, MGM relented and gifted her King Charles. “The day they told me he was mine,” she said, “I thought my heart would burst. He wasn’t just a horse — he was a part of my soul.”
At home, she’d visit him daily, brushing his coat, whispering secrets. “He understood me in ways no one else did,” she once told a friend. “When I was sad, he’d rest his head against me. When I was happy, he’d prance beside me. We spoke without words.”
When King Charles died, Elizabeth was inconsolable. She kept his bridle and a lock of his mane. “Losing him was like losing a piece of my childhood,” she said softly. “He taught me loyalty, courage, and love — the kind that never fades.”
Years later, when asked what her greatest gift in life had been, she didn’t mention jewels, fame, or film. She smiled and said, “A horse named King Charles — he gave me my wings.”
