Priscilla Presley & The Dark Secrets of Her Marriage to Elvis Presley

Priscilla Ann Presley is a renowned American businesswoman, actress, and philanthropist. However, nothing made her as famous and legendary as her marriage to the most sought-after artist of the mid 20th century- Elvis Presley. Ms. Presley was married to Elvis from 1967 to 1973. Throughout this time, she remained the chairwoman of Elvis Presley Enterprises. This company converted the late singer’s mansion Graceland into one of the country’s top tourist attractions.

Priscilla became the talk of the town immediately after tying the knot with Elvis Presley. Though the two remained married for a brief period, they are still regarded as one of the American entertainment industry’s most iconic couples. However, where we know a lot about the late star singer, little is known about Priscilla Presley. There was a lot more to their relationship than what was reported back then or even today. We know you are eager to learn how the two got married and how Priscilla coped with life after the tragic demise of Elvis Presley. So, why waste time- let’s find out.

Ann Lillian Iversen and James Wagner, Priscilla’s parents, welcomed her into the world in May 1945. Her father died in an aircraft crash while serving as a military pilot when the baby daughter was just six months old. Ann eventually met an Air Force colonel named Paul Beaulieu, who nurtured Priscilla as if she were his own daughter. 

Understanding that her late father was an army veteran made him want to protect her as much as possible. Because she was so tiny when Lillian’s mother remarried, Priscilla never realized she had a different father and always assumed Paul was her biological father. When she stumbled upon an old cabinet, she knew that he wasn’t. But she decided to keep the secret to herself.

Priscilla’s family traveled around a lot in those early days since Paul was in the air force. This influenced her growth as a child, and her desire for steadiness and routine grew due to her nomadic upbringing. In the 1950s, Priscilla and her family relocated to Germany, where they met Elvis for the first time. 

Priscilla was just 14 when they met, while the musician was already 25 and had served in the US Armed Forces. Elvis Presley rose to fame rapidly, and by the time he met Priscilla, he had the entire scene under his thumb, with hits like “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Heartbreak Hotel.” By all reports, he seemed to be struck by the youngster. Even though she was almost ten years his junior, he had a feeling they would end up together in the future.

Priscilla stated that she wasn’t as star-struck when she met Elvis Presley. Probably she was too young to realize the stature Elvis held in the country, particularly in the entertainment industry. In an interview with Australia’s Today show in 2017, Priscilla Presley noted that she knew Elvis, that’s obvious, but the meeting didn’t leave any impact on her. With this in mind, who would have guessed that Priscilla, 14 years old, would become a star in the near future?

Following her first encounter with Elvis, Priscilla got home late, much to her mother’s chagrin. She didn’t want her young daughter to get involved with someone so old. Though, Elvis had a charming and charismatic personality. Still, he was much older than Priscilla.

We don’t blame Ann for thinking that Elvis is a terrible influence and that she should never go back to see him. Priscilla’s parents eventually gave in and urged her to meet with Elvis regularly. Elvis met Priscilla shortly after the death of his mother Gladys and appeared to seek solace in the young girl. “I saw him at probably one of the most vulnerable times of his life. Losing his mother and then of course being drafted – which was devastating at the top of his career. So, he poured his heart out to me.” She said in an interview for Today. 

When Elvis left Germany in March 1960, Priscilla was adamant that he would never see her again. Indeed, based on what Nancy Sinatra allegedly heard from her, the singer surmised that the relationship was gone. On the other hand, Priscilla and Elvis continued to talk on the phone for two years until they were reunited.

It was one of those long-distance relationships that lasted. If there is genuine love, both parties will wait for each other and reunite again in the future. They did just that. Reportedly, no one else had ever seen Elvis so shattered and vulnerable as she had. However, the singer was regularly unfaithful in the early stages of their relationship, having romances with his Viva Las Vegas co-star Ann-Margret. This was not a promising start to what appeared to be a wonderful relationship between the couple.

Elvis finally proposed to Priscilla just before Christmas in 1966. However, Elvis was surprised when Priscilla reportedly threatened to go public with their relationship if he refused to marry her. Alberta, Elvis’ longtime housekeeper and chef, discovered him weeping before the wedding, saying, “I don’t have a choice,” according to one Elvis biography.

In May 1967, Priscilla and Elvis married at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. The event was a small gathering intended to attract the media’s notice. They proceeded to their breakfast party while the happy couple attended a news conference after only eight minutes. Despite their age gap, the media loved the couple, and they couldn’t wait to be the first to report about their nuptials. Their wedding made international headlines.

Priscilla claimed she remained a virgin until her wedding night because she believed she and Elvis were not a proper couple until they married. In her 1985 book, Elvis and Me, she recalled telling him, “I’m not saying we can’t do other things. It’s just the encounter itself. I’d like to keep it.” We don’t believe we need to go into detail about that conversation. However, it’s encouraging to see that Priscilla remained loyal to herself for so long.

Elvis was possessive in her relationship, according to Priscilla, even trying to dictate how she dressed. “He was extremely opinionated about what he wanted,” she told the newspaper The Guardian in a 2015 interview. ‘I don’t like you in that color,’ Elvis would comment. This was her relationship’s first red flag that something might go wrong in the future. Elvis had even more quirks when they were newlyweds, which were highly bothersome.

According to Priscilla, Elvis would shoot his gun at the TV when anything annoyed him. Priscilla had a strong desire to satisfy her spouse throughout her marriage. She told Loose Women in a 2016 interview that she always had lipstick in front of him and that she would never let him see her without it or when she was wearing it. There are some things you don’t want your significant other to know about or see, and Priscilla did just that.

Elvis seemed to keep his personal and professional life apart for many years, and Priscilla never saw him on stage until a year after they married. In 2017, she told the BBC’s Good Morning Britain, “Did I complain? Never. Being his wife was a dream come true for me. I had a lot of fun looking after him. So, when I saw him on stage, I said to myself, ‘Oh my goodness, I understand it.’ She now realized why everyone was so obsessed with him!”

But, more than seeing her husband perform on stage, what surprised her was that she was pregnant. Priscilla discovered she was pregnant shortly after the performance. Her concern at the time was that having a child might eventually end her relationship because her husband didn’t want her to age. She also discussed abortion with the singer, but neither of them was able to terminate the pregnancy.

Elvis lived a life full of rules and principles, which Priscilla was also required to adhere to; otherwise, her husband would get furious. One of the many rules Elvis religiously followed was avoiding the public eye, and he would not go out even to dine with his wife. It’s frightening to think that things haven’t changed and that celebrities still face the same dangers every time they leave their home. Upon Elvis’ advice, Priscilla took karate training, but her favorite pastime caused her marriage to break apart. After classes, Priscilla immediately had an affair with her teacher. That implies Elvis wasn’t the only one in their relationship who had infidelity. She wasn’t doing it, though, to retaliate against him.

Priscilla claims that Elvis didn’t get near enough to her, which caused her a lot of grief. In her book Elvis and Me, she wrote that her husband never fully satisfied her needs.  She further explained that cheating on her husband was the only way she could satisfy her sexual desire. She also mentioned when Elvis pulled Priscilla into his hotel room during her adultery with her teacher, Mike Stone. He then “forcefully made love” to her, according to an excerpt from Elvis and Me. Later, Priscilla confessed that she exaggerated the occurrence but insisted that his attempts to express his sexual interest in her were too late. Priscilla had found what she was looking for in another guy, and it was too late for Elvis to make amends. Her heart already belonged to someone else.

Elvis filed for divorce on his 38th birthday, January 8, 1973. However, the couple had already split up in 1972. The singer, surprisingly, couldn’t get over the fact that his wife had separated from him to be with another man. Reportedly, Elvis was suspicious of her lover Mike. His security even considered planning a murder plot against Mike, but the singer eventually backed down before it was too late.

 Priscilla received a $725,000 settlement after her divorce from Elvis in October 1973. Her ex-husband agreed to remain financially supportive of her and her children. Furthermore, the female businesswoman received half of the earnings from the sale of her Beverly Hills home and 5% of Elvis’ publishing company. Though this was a highly publicized and ugly divorce, it did leave Priscilla with so much money. The divorce, comparatively, cost Elvis a lot of money. Nevertheless, it gave Priscilla the chance to create a reputation for herself and break out of his shadow.

Priscilla and Elvis remained close friends after their split, and they left the courtroom holding hands the day their divorce was finalized. Elvis Presley and his ex-wife enjoyed shared custody of their daughter Lisa Marie until his death from a heart attack at the age of 42 in August 1977. When she heard of Elvis’s sad demise, she refused to believe it and assumed it was all part of a cruel prank. No matter how difficult her life with Elvis was while the two were married, they loved each other, and she had never thought that he would leave the world so soon.

Ms. Presley revealed a startling fact about her late ex-husband. According to Priscilla, Elvis was a lonely man and had no particular support system in his life. She gave an interview on Good Morning Britain in 2017, in which she explained these shocking details about Elvis, something the world was unaware of at that time. Even today, many find it odd that someone so famous, rich, and friendly would have a hard time socializing and making friends. We still don’t understand what she meant by referring to Elvis’s inner demons, but we would like to delve deeper into this. How about an article on the unseen side of Elvis? What do you think?

After the tragic death of her ex-husband, Priscilla decided to take care of the property and assets he had left behind. Since the singer had only one heir to his extensive property, his daughter Lisa Marie, legally, Priscilla was the trustee of his properties. The land where Elvis’s home was situated cost more than $500,000 a year at that time. This indicated the value of the land- it was around $1,000,000. In her opinion, spending this much on such a prime property would be unwise. 

Priscilla had to do something to keep the property well-maintained until her daughter was old enough to get hold of it. She was much inspired by famous English galleries and homes and also wanted to ensure Elvis’s legacy lived on. So, she turned her late ex’s former home Graceland into a tourist spot with the help of CEO Jack Soden. It became fully operational in June of 1982, and soon the estate became profitable. 

While she was married to Elvis, Priscilla never discovered the many talents and skills she possessed. After his death, when she had to take care of Elvis’s property and productions company, Priscilla became aware of her true potential. Reportedly, Priscilla became the CEO and chairperson of Elvis Presley Productions and served the company until Lisa Marie Presley was 21. During this time, Priscilla impressed everyone with her sharp business acumen.

Meanwhile, Priscilla continued to grow as an entrepreneur and introduced her line of fashion and fragrances. She was also chairing Elvis’s trust, worth more than $100 million at that time. She collaborated with hairdresser Olivia Bis to open a clothing store, which also turned out to be a successful venture. Basically, she wanted to keep innovating and exploring different domains of work. She had to earn to make a living, after all.

Priscilla was trying many different fields of work to ensure she had enough money to maintain a decent living after handing over Elvis’s property to her daughter. Acting was one of the many ventures she explored. In 1980, Priscilla starred in Dallas, and then this became a turning point in her career. She went on to work in many TV shows. In 1984, Priscilla received the Soap Opera Digest award. Moreover, Priscilla starred in three Naked Guns movies with Leslie Nelson.

Later, she became more interested in dancing. So, she participated in Dancing with the Stars, and this gig completely turned her life around. She was famous already, but now Priscilla was a household name. Still, being the ex-wife of the legendary singer was a tag that was not going to leave her ever. She also dated several men after leaving Mike Stone, including Terry O’Neill and Kirk Kerkorian. For a brief period in 2017, Priscilla was also linked with Welsh musician Sir Tom Jones but later revealed that the two were just good friends.

After her divorce from Elvis, Priscilla had a hard time forming a lasting relationship with anyone. She dated many men but couldn’t find the much-needed emotional support and stability that Elvis offered her. But by the early 1980s, she was in a steady relationship with an Italian writer Marco Garibaldi. The two lived together for 22 years after getting married in March 1987. However, she gave birth to their son while they were in a live-in relationship, and Priscilla was still married to Elvis.

At that time, Priscilla was working in Dallas. Soon, they welcomed their son Navarone. Sadly, they split in 2006. Her son Navarine, the stepbrother of Lisa Marie, grew up and became the leader of Them Weapons rock band. Lisa Marie went on to marry another internationally acclaimed, legendary musician Michael Jackson. But, Priscilla never approved of her relationship with him as she thought Lisa was following in her footsteps.

Priscilla remained associated with the Scientology Church for a long time. However, in 2017, rumors were rife that Priscilla had left the infamous religion, and the authorities also kept mum over it. However, Priscilla’s official spokesperson dismissed the report and categorically denied the new, reinstating the fact that she still supported the Church of Scientology. There’s no doubt that the Church of Scientology has been a controversial one for decades. Still, many known celebrities are admirers and members of it, the most well-known celebrity being Tom Cruise. The reason why this religion is criticized is the strange beliefs its followers have to adhere to. Nevertheless, Priscilla later got involved in philanthropy work and remained the ambassador for the Dream Foundation since 2003. It is an organization offering terminally ill people financial and emotional support. 

In an interview with CNN in 2014, Priscilla noted that she felt blessed to work this the Dream Foundation.

In 2015, Priscilla told the Guardian that she still communicates with Elvis, who sometimes visits her. She knew people would find this claim strange, so she went on to explain what she actually meant. Is it possible that Graceland is a haunted house? But, we should not doubt her claim because she shared a close bond with Elvis. After all, she was his long-time girlfriend and wife. Even today, she is known by his name and didn’t remove his last name from her name. Isn’t it an indication that Priscilla still admires the late singer?

While giving an interview to the British newspaper The Telegraph in 2016, Priscilla explained how she missed Elvis.