Round birthday: Priscilla Presley is 80 – Elvis is still present

Her marriage only lasted six years. In 1973 Elvis Presley and the native of Priscilla Beaulieu drawed a line under her turbulent relationship. But Priscilla Presley’s public life is still revolving around the “King of Rock ‘N’ Roll”. Presley, who turns 80 today (May 24), continues to capitalize on the continued Elvis cult around the singer, who died in 1977.

It was only in March, during a visit to Bad Nauheim – the place where her romance began – she shared memories of the “King” with fans. In talk shows under the title “An intimate Evening with Priscilla Presley” she spoke about Elvis as a husband, but also about the challenge of being married to the music legend. And again and again she asserts her affection. She loved Elvis very much, said Presley. “He was such a gentleman.”

Get to know in Germany

Priscilla lived in Germany at the end of the 1950s because her stepfather in Wiesbaden was stationed as an officer. Elvis also performed military service there. The two met in Bad Nauheim in 1959 when Priscilla was only 14 years old. Elvis was ten years older. The two approached Priscilla’s parents after initial resistance.

Finally, the teenager was allowed to move to Elvis alone to Memphis and make his high school qualification there. Priscilla first has to achieve the age of majority and end the school before getting married the “Love Me Tender” star on May 1, 1967. Her child Lisa Marie Presley was born nine months later. The divorce followed in 1973. Neither of them received another marriage. From a long relationship with the author and film producer Marco Garibaldi, she still has the son Navarone, born in 1987.

“47 years and not a day flies that I don’t think of you,” Presley wrote about a youth photo of the singer on Platform X last August – in memory of his death. On August 16, 1977, Elvis died at the age of 42, of heart failure, marked by fat addiction and years of medication abuse.

The downside of her marriage: Priscilla had reported on a vicious circle of sleeping, stimulus and sedatives that Elvis had fallen into. The musician and actor was on film shoots and concert tours for weeks and made headlines with alleged affairs.

The director Sofia Coppola also drew this picture in her film “Priscilla” (2023), who ran at the Film Festival in Venice. “It is very difficult to see a film about you, your life and your love,” said Presley with tears in his eyes. She had worked closely for the project with Coppola.

In her new memoirs, Presley wants to reveal herself again, but now about her life after the separation of Elvis. “Softly, as I Leave You: Life After Elvis” will be released in autumn. The 80-year-old has already announced a bay tour in Great Britain for September. She had to leave the world of Elvis to find herself, for the sake of her young daughter, according to an announcement. She will also give an insight into her life about trauma, loss and grief.

Severe strokes of fate

Presley has experienced this strongly in recent years. In January 2023 she lost her only child from the relationship with Elvis. At the age of 54, the singer Lisa Marie Presley died of the consequences of a weight -reducing operation. “I miss you more than words can say. I wish I could hug you, talk to you, see your smile again,” the mother wrote on Instagram last January.

In 2020, four -time grandmother Priscilla Presley had to mourn her grandson Benjamin Keough, who had committed suicide at the age of 27. Keough came from the first marriage of Lisa Marie Presley with the musician Danny Keough.

Career as an actress

Priscilla Presley followed a career in front of the camera for years. She demonstrated her comedy talent in the cinema trilogy “The Naked Cam” (1988 to 1994). Previously, she played the country girl Jenna Wade in the TV-Seifen opera “Dallas” for five years, later appeared in “Melrose Place” and the reality show “Dancing with the stars”. She also had guest roles in television films such as “Wedding at Graceland” and “Christmas at Graceland” (2019).

Graceland as the final resting place

The Elvis estate Graceland in Memphis in the US state of Tennessee was temporarily her home. Now it has long been a museum and a pilgrimage site for fans. It is also the final resting place where Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie Presley and her son Benjamin Keough were buried. In 2023 Priscilla Presley expressed the desire to be buried in Graceland in a talk show.