Child bride, fashionista, mother-in-law to MJ — Priscilla Presley's life has been glamorous, difficult, and very strange indeed. Here's everything you need to know about the King's ex-wife.
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00:00Child bride? Fashionista? Mother-in-law to MJ? Priscilla Presley's life has been glamorous,
00:06difficult, and very strange indeed. Here's everything you need to know about the king's ex-wife.
00:11Elvis Presley's impact on the nation's musical landscape needs no explanation,
00:14and it's worth mentioning that his meteoric rise to fame took place well before he met
00:18his future wife. In her memoir, Elvis and Me, Priscilla Presley recounted stories of
00:22how her classmates at Del Valle Junior High were all head-over-heels for the singer,
00:26but she was less impressed. She liked him, sure, but it certainly wasn't a wild obsession felt by
00:31many teens across the country. Music played an incredibly important role in Priscilla's life,
00:37however. Long before Elvis shimmied onto the national stage, she was using music to escape
00:41an uncomfortable family life. Her family listened to opera, and she particularly fell in love with
00:45Mario Lanza. She'd often daydream of rescuing him from the lonely sadness she heard in his songs,
00:50and when she met Elvis, she discovered an instant connection between the two.
00:53Lanza happened to be one of Elvis' favorite singers.
00:57In Elvis and Me, Priscilla wrote that she and her family moved to West Germany when her stepfather
01:01was stationed there by the military. They were isolated by language and location. With housing
01:06scarce, they were forced to rent an apartment far from other American families. Far from home
01:10and with no friends to speak of, Priscilla later wrote that she came to truly understand loneliness,
01:14and when she met Elvis, she was shocked to find a kindred spirit.
01:17The story of how it all happened is now quite famous. Spotted by Curry Grant,
01:21the 14-year-old Priscilla was escorted to Elvis' West German home for a meet-and-greet.
01:25Initially, she said, he wanted to know what the music scene was really like in Germany
01:29and whether he'd been forgotten.
01:30He was out of the limelight for two years. He didn't know if the fans would still be supporting
01:37him.
01:37After she reassured him that wasn't the case, Elvis apparently opened up.
01:41He claimed he was struggling after the loss of his mother, who had died when she was just 46
01:45years old. Not only that, but his father, who had gone to Germany with him, had started seeing
01:50someone, a soon-to-be-divorced mother of three. Priscilla later wrote,
01:53He was a world-famous entertainer, a great star, and yet a terribly lonely man.
01:57And that, she said, she understood.
02:00As strange as it may seem in today's paparazzi-obsessed world,
02:03when Ladies Home Journal interviewed Priscilla Presley in 1973,
02:06they made a startling observation. Few people actually knew what Elvis' wife looked like.
02:11The publication's writer used phrases such as aristocratic bearing and grace and poise
02:15to describe her, and at one point called her the most beautifully kept secret in Hollywood.
02:19Throughout the interview, Priscilla repeatedly referred to her tendency to do and experience
02:23things through the lens of what she saw as masculine and feminine. After moving into
02:26Graceland, Priscilla had to find ways to fill the time when Elvis was gone.
02:30For a bit, that involved taking karate lessons, but she soon opted for ballet instead after
02:34deciding karate didn't feel feminine enough. Priscilla also attended the Patricia Stevens
02:39Finishing School, where she said she learned everything she needed to know about makeup.
02:43The couple eventually bought a half-million-dollar home in Holmby Hills,
02:46and it fell to Priscilla to decorate it. She explained that most of it was done up the way
02:49Elvis wanted it, describing a lot of suede, brass, and gaming tables, and adding,
02:54"'You've got to do what a man likes. He's got to live in it, and he's not going to be happy
02:57with anything feminine, that's for sure." There was one exception, though, in the kitchen,
03:01which Elvis didn't much care about.
03:04Everyone is defined by something, and for Priscilla Presley, that something is a desire
03:08to dress well — really well. She told Vogue that her passion for clothes came from her mother,
03:13saying,
03:13"'She was beautiful, always immaculate, always dressed up, and I loved her clothes.'"
03:17Priscilla went on to lament the loss of the idea that, when you went out of the house,
03:21you dressed up. She told the publication,
03:23"'We live in a world now that is unbelievable. I don't get it. It seems like people have lost
03:27pride. I don't know where dignity is. What happened to us?'
03:30Priscilla added that one of the reasons that she ended up divorcing Elvis was that she wanted to
03:34get out into the world. While they were together, most of her clothes were designed by a close
03:38friend named Olivia Biz, so the next logical step was to open a boutique together, named Biz & Bo.
03:43"'It was very successful. It was a great experience,
03:47and I met a lot of wonderful people.'"
03:49Priscilla described the pride she'd felt not only in the clothes,
03:52but a customer base that included big names, such as Barbra Streisand. It wasn't cheap, though.
03:56Streisand fansite The Streisand Style File saves some of the receipts from the shop.
04:01One receipt for a chiffon shirt, lace jacket, lace blouse, two hats, a slip dress and top,
04:05a wrap dress, and another dress came to a whopping $1,107. This was in 1974, too.
04:12In 2022, that would set customers back a cool $6,749.
04:18Priscilla Presley was less than thrilled when she discovered she'd become pregnant.
04:22She did want to have children, but felt that it had all happened way too soon. In her memoir,
04:26she wrote,
04:27"'I was still uncertain about how my unexpected pregnancy would affect our marriage.
04:30I wanted to be beautiful for him. Instead, my debut as Elvis' bride was going to be
04:35spoiled by a fat stomach, puffy face, and swollen feet."
04:38Priscilla went on to write that Elvis had often told her women used pregnancy as an excuse to,
04:42in his words,
04:43"...let themselves go."
04:44Unsurprisingly, she felt she had no choice but to do herself serious harm in order to
04:48keep herself looking good. She started out by losing 10 pounds, then restricting herself to
04:52a single meal a day, along with the option of an apple or a hard-boiled egg. Priscilla also stopped
04:57eating dairy, thinking she could prevent stretch marks. Nevertheless, her relationship suffered
05:01during the pregnancy. Around the seven-month mark, Elvis suggested they split. It was a
05:06short-lived suggestion, but it devastated Priscilla.
05:09"'You lived his life. You honestly didn't have your own life. You lived his life.'"
05:15In Elvis & Me, Priscilla wrote that, even though she was astounded by her daughter every day,
05:19her relationship with Elvis grew more and more tense over time.
05:22With the benefit of hindsight, she suspected it had something to do with how close he had
05:25been to his mother, meaning some uncomfortable feelings had developed now that she was a mother,
05:29too. A diary entry reflected on his regular use of sleeping pills. Priscilla simply wrote,
05:34"'Another lonely night.'"
05:36As Elvis got back to work filming his next movie, Priscilla searched for ways to fill her days.
05:40Ballet had always been a favorite, so she began taking dance lessons again. Her teacher brought
05:44out the best in her, but she eventually threw in the towel after having an affair with him.
05:48Priscilla went on to enroll in karate classes. Gradually, her relationship with her karate coach
05:52turned into another affair. She later explained how she came to realize that she was the only
05:56one in her marriage who could possibly change. Priscilla wrote,
06:00"...for my adolescence, Elvis had fashioned me into the instrument of his will.
06:03I lovingly yielded to his influence, trying to satisfy his every desire."
06:07Now, though, this just wasn't enough for Priscilla.
06:11Priscilla moved on after her divorce with Elvis. Her next long-term relationship was
06:15complicated, though, and the tabloids had a field day when she and her new boyfriend,
06:18Marco Garibaldi, were photographed getting up close and personal in Brazil.
06:22Garibaldi was a screenwriter and a director who had been recruited into a top-secret
06:26intelligence agency when he was younger. He and Priscilla moved in together about the same time
06:29as the release of her memoir. Priscilla didn't leave the headlines in a hurry, either, later
06:33announcing that she was pregnant. Things got even weirder when the tabloids uncovered an ex-wife who
06:38claimed that everything Garibaldi had said was a lie, including his name. The ex-wife said that
06:43he wasn't Marco Garibaldi from a long-established Italian family at all, but Marco Garcia from
06:48Brazil. She also claimed that attaching himself to a rich woman was one of his life goals.
06:52Priscilla called off the planned wedding in the aftermath of these revelations,
06:56but the couple stayed together. The birth of their son, Navarone Anthony,
06:59was predictably high-profile. When they were interviewed about their new arrival,
07:03journalists were quick to point out that their home contained no photos or memorabilia relating
07:06to Priscilla's first husband. She explained,
07:09"...I would never do that to Marco or Navarone."
07:12People who get involved in Scientology tend to stay involved in Scientology,
07:16and Priscilla Presley has been a devout follower for decades. According to Suzanne,
07:20Finstad's book Child Bride, Priscilla Presley, Priscilla's involvement with the church started
07:24around Lisa Marie Presley's birthday in 1978. Lisa Marie, like basically every 10-year-old
07:30in the late 70s, wanted to meet John Travolta.
07:33"...Well, that's cool, baby. I mean, you know how it is, rockin' and rollin' and whatnot."
07:38So Presley made it happen. Priscilla's own friendship with Travolta developed during
07:41that birthday meeting, which is also when he introduced her to Scientology.
07:45She liked the idea of a science-based faith, later saying,
07:48"...he told me how there's a strong ethical bond with the universe. So I joined. I joined
07:52blindly because there was a connection there that I felt for it."
07:55Ironically, Scientology had previously courted Elvis, who refused to join because he saw it as
07:59a get-rich-quick scheme and thought they were only trying to package religion in a way that
08:03would sell books. Over the years, rumors have occasionally surfaced suggesting that Presley
08:07decided to break off her decades-long relationship with Scientology. She has repeatedly denied this,
08:12however, even issuing a formal statement disputing the rumors in 2017.
08:18In 1994, Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson stunned the world by announcing their engagement.
08:23And in case you're wondering, Priscilla was absolutely against it from the very beginning,
08:27for some fairly surprising reasons. Priscilla saw her daughter making the same mistake she did,
08:32namely marrying someone super famous who was never going to be out of the spotlight.
08:35She'd been there, done that, and it wasn't the kind of life she wanted for her daughter.
08:39She later told The Guardian,
08:40"...in a strange way, maybe history was repeating itself. As her mom, though,
08:44I was concerned as I could see it could be a disaster. At that point,
08:47the right thing to do would have been to bite my tongue, but I didn't bite my tongue."
08:50Priscilla added that she was aware that Lisa Marie hadn't spent much time in the real world.
08:54She had grown up in Graceland and then moved to Neverland,
08:57so her mother wanted her to get some real-life experience first.
09:00Priscilla has also said that she held her doubts about Jackson in general. She explained,
09:05"...you know, I just didn't know if it was authentic or not.
09:07I just worried about if she was doing the right thing. I worried about his agendas."
09:13Not many people get to see their lives reenacted on the big screen,
09:16and Priscilla Presley seems to have taken it in her stride. In 2022,
09:20she and actor Olivia de Jong had nothing but good things to say about Baz Luhrmann's movie Elvis.
09:25"...so I'm sitting there watching this movie and going, God, I wish you could see this."
09:30But it wasn't all good, and Priscilla also said there were some scenes that were difficult for
09:34her to watch, especially when her on-screen counterpart asked Elvis to get treatment
09:38for his worsening addictions. Priscilla spoke more about this with Today, saying she found
09:42it equally hard to relive the conversations Elvis had with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
09:46She explained that it had been heartbreaking living with Elvis as he struggled to shake
09:50off his heartthrob-on-the-beach image in pop culture, which he was never allowed to do.
09:54"...so living that with him and watching the movie, it brought back a lot of memories."
10:00If you need help with an eating disorder or know someone who does,
10:04help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website
10:07or contact NIDA's live helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive
10:1324-7 crisis support via text. Send NIDA to 741741.