Why is Elvis Presley’s marriage to Priscilla considered controversial?

With the release of Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, all eyes are on Elvis Presley. Diving into the realities of his relationship with his wife, Priscilla Presley, the film is based on her autobiography. Questioning the ethics of the relationship and revealing a different side to his persona, the movie presents a counterargument to the eternally glorified view of ‘The King’.

Elvis Presley’s relationships have always been a talking point. At the height of his fame in the late 1950s, the press regularly raged around rumours that he was dating his co-stars. He was paired with starlets like Ann-Margret and Natalie Wood. However, he seemed to steer clear of the typical Hollywood life, living at Graceland in Memphis rather than moving to Tinseltown.

In the public sphere, Presley was a sex symbol. He remains one of the most idolised celebrities to ever exist after hitting a level of fame that few others have or maybe ever will reach. But that came with drawbacks, including a major impact on his relationships.

In Priscilla, the story reveals how Presley hid his girlfriend for years. Priscilla Presley was all but confined to Graceland as management decided the relationship was best kept a secret until they eventually married. However, the controversy comes when contemplating the deeper reasons why his young partner was hidden away.

How old was Elvis when he met Priscilla?
In 1958, Elvis Presley was drafted into military service. Much to his fans’ shock and dismay, with some even writing letters to the president to plead with them to at least not cut his hair, Presley went off to complete training. He was then stationed at 1st Medium Tank Battalion, 32d Armor, 3d Armored Division, at Ray Barracks, West Germany. He was 24 years old.

This is where he met Priscilla Beaulieu, whose father was stationed in the same place. She was invited to a party at Presley’s house in 1959, being told that the star was homesick and wanted to be around more Americans. At first, Priscilla’s parents tried to ban her from seeing the musician as he began to court her, but he convinced them to change their minds. The reason for their reluctance was that their daughter was only 14. She was still in middle school at the time.

After his time in Germany was up, Presley moved back to Graceland. Priscilla thought she would never see him again. Two years later, he flew her to his Memphis home. In 1963, she moved to his home full-time as Presley promised to enrol her in the local Catholic high school to finish her final year. She was 17, and Presley was 27.

When did Elvis marry Priscilla?
Priscilla lived at Graceland, finishing high school, while Elvis jetted between Memphis and Hollywood. She suspected Presley of having affairs with his co-stars but stayed with him as he denied it.

In 1966, he proposed to Priscilla after being reminded of the record contract’s RCA “morals clause” by his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, since his label had learned of his premarital cohabitation with his girlfriend. Priscilla said in a 1973 interview that the couple were happy to live together, but “at that time, it wasn’t nice for people to [just] live together”.

They married on May 1st, 1967, at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. The wedding lasted only eight minutes but was heavily publicised as Priscilla’s presence in Elvis’ life was revealed in a post-ceremony press conference now she was his wife.

How old was Priscilla when she married Elvis?
Priscilla Presley was 21 years old when she married Elvis. He was 32, 11 years her senior.

After their wedding, the pair honeymooned in Palm Springs, then retreated to their ranch in Mississippi for a few weeks. The age of consent for marriage in Mississippi is 21, meaning the pair could legally be married there.

Exactly nine months after their wedding, the couple welcomed their first and only child, Lisa Marie Presley. Priscilla was said to be shocked and slightly saddened by the speed she got pregnant, worried it would affect her closeness with her husband.

How long were Elvis and Priscilla married?
Elvis and Priscilla were married for six years in total, from May 1967 to October 1973. They filed for divorce on divorce on January 8th, 1973, Presley’s 38th birthday. The musician initially filed for divorce to protect Priscilla’s new address from being made public to protect their daughter. Despite the split, the two remained close and even left the courthouse hand in hand as the divorce was made final.

However, the pair were separated in 1972 after being largely estranged for a year prior. As Elvis began his extended run in Las Vegas, Priscilla Presley stayed at Graceland to care for their daughter. They barely cohabited and found their lives increasingly separated and their relationship becoming more and more strained.

Why did Elvis and Priscilla divorce?
The official line for why the pair divorced, according to Presley’s camp, is that Priscilla Presley had an affair with her karate instructor, Mike Stone, that the musician never recovered from. For Priscilla, the affair was a step towards her own life and freedom, stating, “I still loved Elvis greatly, but over the next few months, I knew I would have to make a crucial decision regarding my destiny”. It’s an explanation that has led to major public condemnation of Priscilla, leading to criticism of Sofia Coppola’s biopic from other members of the Presley family.

The blame in the split is not one-sided. Presley, at the time, was also having an affair with Joyce Bova, as well as being repeatedly unfaithful throughout the marriage. However, he handled his wife’s admission of her affair with hypocritical rage. After learning about the affair, Priscilla claimed the singer “forcefully made love to me…[as he said] ‘This is how a real man makes love to his woman.’” After this incident, Priscilla wrote, “This was not the gentle, understanding man I grew to love.”

In reality, the relationship had been broken down for a long time. Presley expected his wife to be faithful and homely. Even before their marriage, he expected his partner to stay home and didn’t like the idea of Priscilla having her own career. There were also a lot of sexual issues within the marriage, as his wife wrote in her memoir, “He had mentioned to me before we were married that he had never been able to make love to a woman who had a child.” She added, “I am beginning to doubt my own sexuality as a woman. My physical and emotional needs were unfulfilled.”