Criticism of the current system tends to centre on the fact it gives an advantage to the prime minister of the day, who can choose to call an election at the most advantageous time for him or her as long as it is within five years of the previous election.

BBC: Q&A: Fixed term parliaments

Her fondest memories are from when she was 19, recently married, and spending most of her time with friends and at dances.

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The boyfriend had his own apartment, and she was either there or at a friend's house most of the time, so she rarely made it home to take her treatments.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance'

"Some of the coverage of her first marriage, her first divorce and her affairs, was strikingly more critical than the coverage of most other celebrities at the time, " says Steinheimer.

BBC: How Elizabeth Taylor redefined celebrity