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Priscilla Presley met Elvis Presley when she was 14 years old. Even at this early stage in their relationship, the media had caught wind that they were together. When she saw the way the media covered her and Elvis, and cringed. Stories about her painted her as his young girlfriend at home, and stories about him tracked his alleged affairs with other women, meaning that the public didn’t know what to make of her. It wasn’t until multiple years into their romance that she felt people respected her and her relationship.
Priscilla Presley felt people saw her as Elvis’ legitimate partner after their wedding
In 1967, Priscilla and Elvis married after eight years together. She felt a shift in the way the public perceived her.
“Mrs. Elvis Presley. It had a different ring, a nicer sound than previous labels such as ‘constant companion,’ ‘teen heartthrob,’ ‘live-in Lolita,’ ‘lover,’” she wrote in her book Elvis and Me. “For the first time, I felt accepted by my peers and the majority of the public. There were exceptions, of course — those who had that little hope that they might be the one to finally catch Elvis. I didn’t understand that at the time. I was in love and just hoped they would be happy for us.”
The positive media coverage also made her feel more secure in her relationship. For years, she’d read stories about affairs Elvis allegedly had with co-stars. Now, she hoped she would be the only person to feature in stories about the musician’s love life.
“When I read in the newspapers that I was the best-kept secret in Hollywood, I felt very proud; it was good to be acknowledged,” she wrote. “The years of doubt and insecurity of where and if I belonged were over.”
Priscilla Presley was satisfied with her title but not with her wedding to Elvis
While Priscilla found all this incredibly satisfying, she wasn’t nearly as happy with her actual wedding day. They’d had to move as fast as possible so that journalists and fans didn’t follow them to the venue. Because of this, they could only have a limited number of people in attendance.
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“Now I sometimes look back at all the commotion of that week and wonder how things could have gotten so out of hand,” she explained. “I wish I’d had the strength then to say, ‘Wait a minute, this is our wedding, fans or no fans, press or no press. Let us invite whomever we want and have it wherever we want!’”
They sped through the ceremony before rushing Priscilla and Elvis out the door. She wished she could have been able to savor the day.
“I would have given anything for one moment alone with my husband,” she wrote. “But we were immediately rushed out for a photo session, then a nationwide press conference, and finally a reception, with more photographers.”
When did Priscilla and Elvis Presley divorce?
In 1973, Priscilla and Elvis divorced. While she loved him and struggled with her decision to leave the marriage, she knew it was the right thing to do.
“I didn’t have my teenage years as a normal girl, obviously, so I had to adapt,” she said on Loose Women. “So I just kind of followed what he did. I mean, you lived his life. You saw the movies he wanted to see. You listened to the music he wanted to listen to, and you go to places that he would go. I honestly didn’t have my own life … So I really kind of lost myself.”
She knew that to be her own person, she had to move on from the relationship. She didn’t want to live the rest of her life in Elvis’ shadow.
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