"Softly, as I Leave You": Priscilla Presley writes about her life after Elvis

It was a truly Vegas affair at the Aladdin Hotel; Elvis in a paisley tux, Priscilla with a rhinestone tiara. By the time they'd met, when Priscilla Beaulieu was just 14, Elvis Presley had already gyrated his way into pop culture, from his music to his movies.

He redefined what celebrity was, and yet, Hollywood was no place for him. "He would always go back to Memphis; that's where home was," said Priscilla.

Priscilla met Elvis while he was in the Army stationed in Germany. The only thing that made more news than their relationship was their divorce in 1973. "I mean, I was very much in love with Elvis, very much," said Priscilla, now 80. "I am still very much in love with him. I didn't leave him because I didn't love him; I just couldn't live the life."

Her split from Elvis is where she begins "Softly, as I Leave You" (to be published Tuesday), what she says is her final telling of what it was like to be a queen to the King, and what came after. "I was living Elvis' life," she said. "It was all about him. I had to find me. Who was I? I was Elvis' wife. I don't think we could ever have a life that I wanted. I wanted him for myself."

But so did his fans. Elvis, it seemed was destined to be shared. "I thought, well, what if he runs into someone he falls in love with?" said Priscilla. "And I mentioned it to him, and he goes, 'You don't have to worry. You never have to worry.' But when you see these beautiful girls hanging out, I'm going, Could that be the one?

"I couldn't live a life of being in panic all the time, of losing him to someone else," she said.

There were affairs on both sides, and yet after their divorce, they still couldn't quit each other. They stayed uncommonly close. Neither ever remarried. "We couldn't find anyone else!" she laughed.

She started businesses, and began taking acting classes. She says it helped with her shyness, and grew her confidence. She was also busy raising her and Elvis' only daughter, Lisa Marie. They had joint custody for nearly four years … before it all ended.

At age 42, Elvis was gone.

Priscilla had seen the changes – the bloating, the slurred words, the drugs.

I asked, "Was there anybody around him who could convince him to stop?"

"No," she replied. "You couldn't convince Elvis on anything unless he believed in it or, you know, thought about it."

She said doctors would basically give him anything he wanted, enabling him. "He was Elvis; you're not going to say no to Elvis," she said.

In his absence sat Graceland, the Memphis mansion that had been hemorrhaging money. The urge was to sell. Priscilla said, "And I looked at the guy who was telling me, the attorney, and I said, 'That will never happen, ever.'"

Instead, she opened it to the public. It went from a home to a family shrine.

By the time Lisa Marie turned 25, Elvis' inheritance was hers. It was 1993, the same year another King popped the question … the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

Priscilla recalled, "We were walking on the beach, and she said, 'Mom, you know, Michael wants to get married.' I said, 'Lisa, I'm not really for it.' And she goes, 'Why not.' And I go, 'Who are you? Michael Jackson, Lisa Presley?' And I knew that Michael loved attention, which he did. I knew that's the reason why. They didn't even know each other that long."

Priscilla was no fan of another celebrity, O.J. Simpson. She worked with him on the "Naked Gun" series. "He could be very, very nice, but I just didn't, I just felt something about him in the way he was with his wife, and it didn't set well with me," she said.

That said, Priscilla was a huge fan of co-star Leslie Nielsen.

Before "Naked Gun," Priscilla had never done comedy. She was thought of in most circles as a more serious actor after her role in "Dallas" a few years before.

"Dallas" was a spotlight the size of Texas, and Priscilla's role as Jenna Wade put her in the pop zeitgeist all over again.

She left the series after having her second child, Navarone, with her longtime partner Marco Garibaldi.

In 2023, her last physical link with Elvis left. Lisa Marie Presley died suddenly at her home in California from complications after bariatric surgery, and once again the Presley name was draped in grief.

"I miss her every day," Priscilla said. "I miss her, but I have to let that go and live my life. But her spirit is still with me very, very much."

She's buried at Graceland, like her dad. Priscilla says she will be there one day, too. For her, the first home she had as a married woman will be her last. That's not looking backward, she says; it's a comfort for the future.

"When you stop and think about it, we're not here that long. We're not," Priscilla said. "All of a sudden we're older and we think, Wow, I don't want to hold on to bad things. I don't want to hold on to, you know, things that are in the past that happened. I want to move forward."

READ AN EXCERPT: "Softly, as I Leave You: Life After Elvis" by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Extended interview - Priscilla Presley (Video)

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Story produced by Reid Orvedahl. Editor: George Pozderec.

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