Priscilla Presley On Marriage To Elvis: ‘You Honestly Didn’t Have Your Own Life’

Priscilla Presley recently appeared on ITV’s Loose Women and gave a rare glimpse into what her life was really like behind closed doors, throughout her marriage to the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley. Since Elvis’ passing on August 16, 1977, the world has discovered Presley’s darker side little by little, but Priscilla now reveals that the “Suspicious Minds” singer was just as needy for attention in his relationships as he was on stage. While Priscilla speaks of Elvis’ darker side, she also reveals that she shared a love with him that survived their divorce.

Marriage To Elvis Presley Robbed Priscilla Of Her Youth

Now 71-years-old, Priscilla Presley appeared as a guest in Loose Women, and as Fox News shares, she took the opportunity to reveal something more about her life with Elvis. The years she shared with Presley start at a young age. When Priscilla was just 14, she entered into a romance with Elvis that would flourish, and in just five years, the two would marry in a highly-publicized wedding. While some might view the romance as a faerie tale come true, Priscilla says that, as she looks back, she feels cheated out of her teen years.

“I didn’t have my teenage years as a normal girl, obviously, so I had to adapt. So I just kind of followed what he did,” Ms. Presley explained. “I mean, you lived his life. You honestly didn’t have your own life. So you really kind of lost yourself.”

It wasn’t until she found herself alone, patiently waiting for Elvis to return from concert tours, that Priscilla came to feel a need for a life of her own. She says she didn’t even realize how much she was missing, until she happened to enroll in a dance class. Ms. Presley said there came a moment of awakening, when she realized she didn’t know who she was without Elvis.

Priscilla Presley Says Divorce Didn’t Destroy Her Love For Elvis

UPI shares Priscilla’s memories of her marriage to Elvis, which includes the ways in which their lives were vastly different from the lives of most married couples. For instance, Ms. Presley says they rarely went out to eat publicly, because fans would often take their pictures and Elvis didn’t want to be photographed while eating.

Ms. Presley also revealed that Elvis never saw her without make-up. She says she always wore at least minimal make-up, so her husband wouldn’t see her untouched face. Priscilla reveals that Elvis preferred it that way, because he only wanted to see the end product. She says he was very particular about how he wanted her to present herself.

While Priscilla did cater to Elvis’ eccentricities and found aspects of her marriage to him stifling, she says she never really fell out of love with him. In fact, she shares that she still loved Elvis at the time of their divorce and that a lack of emotion wasn’t the reason for the split.

“I did not divorce him because I didn’t love him. He was the love of my life, but I had to find out about the world,” said Priscilla Presley.

She adds that, even as they left the courthouse, following their divorce proceedings, she and Elvis walked hand in hand.

Priscilla goes on to say that being a young wife, raising a daughter, and dealing with Elvis’ rock and roll lifestyle eventually took its toll. Adding to the stress in her life, Ms. Presley says she had to deal with harsh criticism from fans, her family, and from the media, all of whom had reasons for speaking badly about the wife of Elvis Presley.

“I was hated for marrying him, hated for getting a divorce,” Priscilla recalled. “Having people being critical but not knowing what your life was and not knowing that you were trying desperately to be a good wife, to be a good mother, to be a good companion — it was a hard road.”

[Featured Image by Angela Weiss/Getty Images]