Liz Taylor’s only known nude photo released

Elizabeth Taylor’s only known nude photo, taken at the age of 24 for her then fiancé Michael Todd, has been released by a private collector.

It was an engagement gift from Taylor to producer Todd, who was her third husband.

The picture was taken by one of her closest friends, actor and photographer Roddy McDowall. He persuaded her to pose naked by promising her it would be done tastefully.

She then gave it to Todd as a present after he proposed in 1956 – the pair married a few months later but the relationship was tragically short-lived.

Todd was killed 13 months after their wedding day when his private plane crashed during a storm over New Mexico.

A devastated Taylor is believed to have given the nude photograph to her assistant and make-up artist Penny Taylor.

It was bought by private collector Jim Shaudis in 1980 and had been thought lost. But after her death from heart failure last week aged 79, he decided to show the image publicly for fans of the star, reports a newspaper.