Mrs. Elvis: Priscilla Presley's Life With And Without The King

For 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, Elvis Presley's attention and courtship must have been bewildering. After all, this was Elvis, the King of Rock 'n Roll, who had been making teenage girls scream and weep for years when he and Priscilla met in September 1959. (This was long before the Beatles caused similar scenes.) Presley, stationed in Germany while serving in the U.S. Army, fell for her hard, and they were together for an intense six months before Elvis shipped back home. 

At that point, Priscilla didn't know whether she'd see Elvis again. 

Though young, Priscilla knew that things change. Her father Paul Beaulieu -- her adoptive father, she later discovered -- was in the Air Force, and she'd grown up living the itinerant military-brat life.   

To Priscilla's surprise, Elvis kept in touch and asked her to come to see him at Graceland in 1962. Her parents finally agreed to let her go, for two weeks, with some very specific restrictions. Elvis broke those “rules” almost immediately. When they were supposed to be in Los Angeles, they were actually in Las Vegas but Elvis had Priscilla send postcards to her parents which were mailed from Los Angeles by one of his staff. During this trip to Las Vegas, she took her first amphetamines and sleeping pills in order to keep up with the lifestyle that Elvis lived. 

Just one year later, her parents agreed to let her move to Tennessee for good, but she was supposed to attend an all-girls Catholic School and live with Elvis's parents until she graduated in June of that year. Of course, those rules were bent and she actually moved into Graceland in May. But, eventually, the King did make good on his promise to her parents that he would marry her. And what a momentous day it was for Priscilla to marry the man of her dreams. She was the envy of all of Elvis’ many female fans, many of whom would have given anything to be in her shoes. On May 1, 1967, they officially tied the knot in Las Vegas and flew to Palm Springs, California.  

Elvis and Priscilla arrived in Palm Springs for their honeymoon at this gorgeous home that he leased for one year for $21,000. But they only spent two days there; Elvis would later buy a home in Palm Springs in another part of town. Back in 2015, this home was put up for sale for around $7 million. Throughout the 5,000 square foot home, there is unimaginable beauty with four bedrooms, five bathrooms, big glass windows, customized stonework, two fireplaces, spacious chef’s kitchen, and a huge open living room.  

This is a view of the living room in this beautiful home that was Elvis and Priscilla’s “hideaway” for their short honeymoon. Outside is an in-ground pool, tennis courts, and gorgeous garden --- definitely a place you could chill and relax in – too bad they couldn’t have taken a longer honeymoon there. Exactly nine months later though, Lisa Marie was born. Their marriage was not always as beautiful as their honeymoon home was and there are plenty of rumors that have gone around the media and Hollywood about the affairs Elvis may have had, but no one can say for sure what the real facts are except for the two of them. You cannot believe everything you hear and only half of what you see.  

How special these times must have been with him constantly being on the road touring somewhere or on location of a movie set. Despite their rocky marriage, Elvis had a special place in his heart for his daughter. According to Priscilla, because she was so young when she got pregnant with Lisa Marie, she was quite upset and she and Elvis discussed abortion; but decided against it, saying they would not be able to live with themselves if they had.

Even though Priscilla and Elvis’ marriage ended in divorce in 1972, they continued to stay friends up until his death in 1977. Priscilla went on to do other things. She and a friend opened up a clothing boutique in Los Angeles, which turned out to be very successful. While Elvis was alive, he did not want her to pursue any type of career outside of the home. It wasn’t until 1980 that she co-hosted the show Those Amazing Animals and 1983 when she first acted professionally on an episode of The Fall Guy.

Later that year, she landed a role on Dallas playing Jenna Wade. She also starred in a few movies, including the successful comedy The Naked Gun. Eventually, she hooked up with Marco Garibaldi, whom she stayed with for 22 years and had a son with him whose name is Navarone. Even though her life with the “King” ended, she will always be known as the Queen of Graceland and the one who stole Elvis away from the world.