For years, Priscilla lived in her husband’s shadow, the media following her every move.
Moving a lot was bad enough, but Priscilla described herself as “quite shy” as a kid.
“I made close friends and listened to music on my radio,” she told WSJ.
Throughout her tumultuous upbringing, Priscilla clung to a core belief.
“I always knew that something extraordinary was going to happen to me,” she toldPeopleback in 1978.
While there, she made friends with an airman in his 20s.
“He asked if I wanted to meet Elvis at a party.
I said I did.
My father knew his commanding officer and felt comfortable, so he let me go with them.”
Army Center of Military History.
And, as it happened, Elvis was living not too far from the teenager and her family.
During their first meeting, they spoke and he played the piano and sang for her.
“Everything was very proper and sweet,” she told The Wall Street Journal.
In an interview withThe Guardian, Priscilla revealed that the two grew close through mutual loneliness.
The teenager was young and missing her friends, while Elvis' mother had recently died.
“I was that girl.”
“Anyway, he’s not the kind of person to take advantage of anybody.
So I felt very secure.”
Then, in 1966, Elvis asked her to marry him.
The 21-year-old bride also slept with Elvis for the first time, she said.
“Initially I was devastated.
Priscilla added that her husband was worried about how becoming a father would impact his popularity with his fans.
Priscilla threw herself into motherhood but she had little support from her husband.
Still, she told The Guardian that having a child made them stronger as a couple.
“The moment you have the child, everything changes,” she said.
“I mean, you lived his life,” she explained.
“You saw the movies he wanted to see,” she added.
Priscilla admitted that she “lost” herself in her marriage to Elvis.
Priscilla also toldThe Guardianthat the control started long before they got married.
Theirdivorce was finalized on October 9, 1973.
In spite of everything, Priscilla maintains that she always loved Elvis.
“People will say ‘well if you didn’t stop loving him why did you divorce him?'”
she toldThe Sydney Morning Herald.
“It wasn’t really him, it was the lifestyle.
The lifestyle was very difficult.”
Elvis’ death sent the media into a frenzy, especially as there were rumors of a coverup.
To get away from it all, Priscilla fled to Italy with her daughter.
“And I mean all odds.
I just had to roll my sleeves up and go ‘I cannot let this house go.
I can’t let this go.”
“I had no real goals after graduation,” she wrote (viaExpress).
“But I did sometimes dream of becoming a dancer or possibly enrolling in an art academy.
Now I realize that I was deeply influenced by Elvis’s casual attitude toward continued schooling.”
She once landed a modeling job, but quit when her husband gave her an ultimatum.
“‘It’s either me or a career, Baby.
The two were together from 1984 to 2006 and share a son, Navarone Garibaldi (viaPopCulture).
“I’ve been married; Marco’s been married.
I don’t take him for granted, and he doesn’t take me for granted.”
For better or worse, Priscilla’s life has been shaped by Elvis.
The couple had their ups and downs, but Priscilla has never forgotten the special connection that they shared.
In fact, she claims it persists even in death.
She spoke of visiting Graceland and all of the memories it holds for her.
“It’s a very surreal feeling.
But it’s not scary, it’s beautiful.”
“It was perfection.”
Priscilla said she “was pleasantly surprised” by DeJong’s portrayal of her.
“I relived every moment in this film.
It took me a few days to overcome the emotions as it did with Lisa.
Beautifully done Baz, Tom, Austin and Olivia,” she wrote.
