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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Entertainment
Michelle Cullen

Elvis Presley's ex-wife Priscilla now - real reason she left singer and the truth of how they met

Elvis and Priscilla Presley are one of the world's most recognisable couples, with their relationship under the spotlight of the media for many years, thanks to the "King of Rock and Roll's" successful music career.

Priscilla Beaulieu was just 14 years old when she first met Elvis at a party in West Germany in September 1959.

The teen's father, Navy pilot Lt. James Wagner, died in a plane crash when she was just six months old.

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Priscilla, her mum, stepdad and five younger half-siblings moved around a lot, as military families often do, and Wiesbaden was their latest stop.

Elvis was 24 and had been drafted into the U.S. Army in March 1958.

Las Vegas, Nev..Entertainer, Elvis Presley sits cheek to cheek wit his bride, the former Priscilla Ann Beaulieu, following their wedding May 1, 1967. (gettyimages.ie)

He worried that the move would ruin his budding career as it had barely been a year-and-a-half since he'd made his world-rattling debut on The Ed Sullivan Show , sending his fans into hysterics.

The singer had already sold millions of records and purchased his 18-room Memphis mansion, Graceland.

Priscilla told People in 1985 that she remembers first being introduced to Elvis at his rental house near the Army base in Bad Nauheim.

She said he asked her: "Well, what have we here? What are you, about a junior or senior in high school?"

When she told him she was in ninth grade, he chuckled and said, "Why, you're just a baby."

Priscilla said: "I saw Elvis trying to get my attention.

"I noticed that the less response I showed, the more he began singing just for me. I couldn't believe that Elvis Presley was trying to impress me."

Las Vegas, Nevada, Entertainer, Elvis Presley cuts wedding cake with his bride, the former Priscilla Ann Beaulieu, May 1, 1967. (gettyimages.ie)

She was invited back to his house for another gathering. And another. On that third night, he invited her upstairs to be alone, assuring her: "I swear I'll never do anything to harm you. I'll treat you just like a sister."

But the teen's parents weren't too happy about her seeing an older man.

Priscilla's stepfather insisted they at least meet the man, and when Elvis came for dinner, dressed to impress in full uniform, her stepdad asked him what he wanted with his stepdaughter.

To which Elvis replied, 'Well, sir, I happen to be very fond of her.

"She's a lot more mature than her age, and I enjoy her company. It hasn't been easy for me, being away from home and all. It gets kinda lonely. I guess you might say I need someone to talk to. You don't have to worry about her, Captain. I'll take good care of her."

Despite their unconsummated relationship, they became "deeply involved," Priscilla told People .

"Something in his Southern upbringing had taught him that the 'right' girl was to be saved for marriage. I was that girl. At the same time, he moulded me into his woman. I wore the clothes, hairstyle and makeup of his careful choosing . "

Elvis then returned to the U.S. in March 1960, and Priscilla was informed by the paparazzi that he had started dating Nancy Sinatra.

Elvis Presley and his wife, Priscilla, prepare to leave the hospital with their new daughter, Lisa Marie. Memphis, Tennessee, February 5, 1968. (gettyimages.ie)

Three weeks after he left Germany, he finally got in touch with Priscilla again, and they remained in touch through phone calls.

It had been two years since the pair had seen each other when in February 1962, Elvis invited Priscilla to Los Angeles.

Priscilla spent Christmas of 1962 at Graceland, and when she returned to Germany, she told her mother that Elvis wanted her to move to Memphis to finish high school.

"Declaring his intentions honourable, he swore that he loved and needed and respected me," Priscilla told People. "In fact, he couldn't live without me, he said, intimating that one day we'd marry. In that light, there was little my parents could do but say yes, and eventually they did."

In 1966 Elvis finally proposed to Priscilla, with a three 1/2-carat diamond surrounded by 20 more diamonds, the ring by Memphis jeweller Harry Levitch.

They tied the knot in Las Vegas at around midnight on May 1, 1967.

Priscilla recalled last year, per Vogue : "My wedding was very unusual.

Priscilla Presley attends the photocall for "Elvis" during the 75th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 26, 2022 in Cannes, France. (gettyimages.ie)

"It was the people closest to us, and private, and that's how we wanted it. We didn't want a fan club. We didn't want a circus."

Nine months after becoming husband and wife, their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, was born in Memphis.

Why did they split?

The pair eventually split after a number of cheating rumours as Priscilla told Closer, she stepped out, too.

She said she tried to ignore what was happening but knew "there was some finagling going on."

His prescription drug use had also become a problem.

Priscilla told Good Morning America: "It was getting more and more frightening as time went by."

She added that her ex-husband also had a temper, saying: "If he saw somebody he didn't like on the TV, he'd get his gun out and blow it up.

circa 1975: American rock singer Elvis Presley (1935 - 1977), wearing a white rhinestone-studded suit and strapped guitar, singing into a microphone with his eyes closed. (gettyimages.ie)

"Then he would tell his daddy to go get another TV."

When their divorce was finalised in 1973, they left the courtroom hand in hand. Priscilla was still only 28.

But despite their split, Priscilla continued to bring Lisa Marie to gigs and visit to Graceland.

She told People that she continued to go to Graceland "like we were never divorced. Elvis and I still hugged each other, still had love. We would say, 'Mommy said this' and 'Daddy said that.' That helped Lisa to feel stable. There was never any arguing or bitterness."

She said, looking back decades later, "I truly cherish the great times.

"As you grow up, there are always fears and insecurities. But as you get older, you understand it all."

Elvis sadly passed away soon after as his health deteriorated. The legend died of a heart attack at Graceland on Aug. 16, 1977 , when he was only 42.

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