Being married to one of the most famous men in the history of the world, and meeting him at a fairly young age, Priscilla Presley was always the target of tabloid rumors and “sources” revealing “the truth” about her life.
This hasn’t really stopped since Elvis’ passing and even continues as people discuss Elvis and his life with her in the late 1960s / early 1970s.
In 1967 when Priscilla and Elvis tied the knot, they had already been dating for several years and she had moved into his Graceland estate.
The love story of Elvis and Priscilla Presley began when he was stationed in Germany with the Army and she was living there with her parents while her dad was an Air Force Captain.
Once he’d returned back home to the States and resettled back into his Graceland Estate, he and Priscilla kept in touch via phone until she turned 17 – at which point her parents allowed her to move to Memphis to be with him, but solely based on the condition that they would eventually marry.
This would come to be the source of a deeply emotional moment for The King – just minutes before his wedding was set to take place.
In the 1998 biography Down at the End of Lonely Street: The Life and Death of Elvis Presley, his cook revealed that she discovered him crying at one point about the wedding.
When she asked why it couldn’t be called off – she says he told her that he “didn’t have a choice.” And many people have speculated that Priscilla’s father had threatened to have Elvis arrested (because of her young age when they started dating.)
This is often where the rumors that Priscilla was “forced” to marry Elvis comes from – which is something she addressed head-on during a question-and-answer session for Elvis’ 85th birthday celebration.
“[My father] wanted to know his intentions. I mean, he didn’t want me hurt…And Elvis said he cared very much about me…and that he had plans for me.”
“There’s all these stories out there that my dad forced him to marry me,” Priscilla added. “I mean, it makes me sick when I read that because that’s not true.”
Watch her 2018 interview with Australia’s Sunday Night below.