When Lisa Marie Presley tied the knot with Michael Jackson in 1994, it was a surprise to her mother, Priscilla Presley. Priscilla was not privy to their nuptials beforehand, and she harbored reservations about Jackson’s influence on her daughter. The relationship between Priscilla and her son-in-law was almost non-existent, as Jackson seemed to go out of his way to keep his distance from her.
Priscilla Presley said she found Michael Jackson’s behavior strange
Despite her misgivings, Priscilla attempted to maintain a cordial demeanor when Lisa Marie began her relationship with Jackson. However, opportunities to engage with him were scarce.
In her memoir, Softly, As I Leave You, Priscilla recounts how her interactions with Jackson were strange from the outset. “Shortly after Lisa began seeing him, she invited me to a gathering at her home where Michael would be present,” she wrote. “I saw it as a chance to better understand him and to see if my worries were unfounded. Though I aimed to be amiable, he showed no interest in engaging with me. In fact, he kept his distance from all the adults at the event.”
Priscilla speculated that Jackson’s behavior might stem from shyness. Lisa Marie assured her that Jackson was more communicative in private settings. Nonetheless, Priscilla never witnessed this side of him firsthand, as Jackson remained elusive even after marrying her daughter.
“He continued to keep his distance,” Priscilla noted. “The only time we crossed paths was at an Elvis event in Memphis. I visited the hotel beforehand to meet Lisa and asked about Michael’s whereabouts. Lisa mentioned he was in the other room. He didn’t come out to greet me. Shortly after, he emerged to grab his hat, offered a brief smile, and retreated without speaking to me as we headed to the show.”
“He continued to go to great lengths to avoid me,” she wrote. “My only actual contact with him was during an Elvis event in Memphis … I went by the hotel beforehand to meet up with Lisa and asked her where Michael was. She said he was in the other room. He didn’t come out to greet me. A few minutes after I arrived, the door down the hall opened, and Michael popped out. He grabbed his hat off the table where he’d left it, sort of smiled, and then popped back in the room and shut the door. He said nothing to me on the way to the show.”
Priscilla said that this was her one and only interaction with Jackson.
She saw him as manipulative
Priscilla said she disapproved of Jackson’s relationship with Lisa Marie from the beginning. She worried that because Jackson was a big Elvis fan, he was only looking for a way to get closer to the Presley family. She also thought Jackson wanted to improve his image amid allegations of child sexual abuse.
“Lisa had first met him in Las Vegas as a child and reconnected years later,” she wrote. “He was ten years older than she was, the same age difference there had been between Elvis and me. Michael had started reaching out to her when the child abuse charges went public. I think that’s how he hooked her in the beginning. She felt very sorry for him, and naturally, she believed in his innocence.”
She believed that he was manipulating Lisa Marie throughout their relationship.
“Michael was a manipulative man, and I think he had his sights set on her long before she realized it,” she wrote. “The childlike innocence he projected was part of his public mask. She learned this early on, and it bothered her, but she didn’t see it for the warning sign it was.”
Priscilla Presley said she felt relieved when her daughter left Michael Jackson
While Priscilla said that Lisa Marie initially believed Jackson was innocent, the allegations began to weigh on her. They ended their marriage in 1996. Priscilla said this came as a relief.
“Finally, she’d had enough,” Priscilla wrote. “She called me to tell me she wanted a divorce. She had begun to feel like the marriage was a setup. He didn’t want to be with her; he wanted to be with Elvis Presley’s daughter. If he’d wanted to be with her, he wouldn’t have been gone for most of their marriage.”
Priscilla said that Elvis would have felt the same relief as she did when Lisa Marie left Jackson.