Although Las Vegas played a huge role in Elvis Presley’s career, the late music icon’s former Priscilla Presley admits that Sin City had a pretty negative impact on their marriage.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Priscilla Presley revealed during her appearance at South Point Showroom over the weekend that she and Elvis actually divorced midway through his run at the International and Las Vegas Hilton, which started in July 1969 and ended in December 1976. Pricilla recalled how she became uneasy after noticing a few things about her husband’s performances.
“When he was at the International and Hilton Hotel, one of the guys said, ‘Get all the pretty girls and put them in front.’ So there would be blondes, redheads, beautiful, beautiful girls in the front. Maybe about 30,” Priscilla reflected. “So, you know, I noticed that. And I thought, ‘OK, I guess that’s the normal thing.”
However, Priscilla then noticed that the beautiful women were making their way into her husband’s Las Vegas dressing room. While she kept her composure in that situation, Pricilla did not tolerate notes and letters being delivered backstage to her husband.
“The notes were coming in,” Priscilla Presley stated about her husband’s Las Vegas fans. “The letters were coming in. And I would open them. This is when I got back to L.A. And it would be notes like, ‘I had a great time with you,’ ‘I’ll never forget this night,’ and ‘Can it wait to come back,’ blah-blah-blah and on and on.”
Priscilla Presley Ends Her Marriage With Elvis
Priscilla Presley goes on to reveal that when she returned to Las Vegas, she saw the same women still hanging around her husband. She decided then it was time to change her relationship with The King. “It meant that I would be dealing with this for the rest of my life. Twice – Twice! – a year he was playing up here. I just knew it couldn’t continue. I had to go.”
Priscilla Presley then admitted that she surprised herself when she told Elvis that she was done with their marriage. “I was just so young to make that decision. But it was the right decision.”
The couple ended their marriage in October 1973. As she chatted about the home movies of her and Elvis, Priscilla Presley said, “People ask if we had fun. And we did. We were carefree. Even after the divorce, we were great co-parents to Lisa Marie. And remained very close. We were great friends.”
Along with chatting about her marriage with Elvis, Priscilla Presley shared her thoughts about Austin Butler’s portrayal of her late ex-husband in the upcoming biopic “Elvis.”
Priscilla Presley said that she watched the film alongside Jerry Schilling, who is one of Elvis’ last surviving associates. He was friends with the music legend since 1954. “Jerry and I sat there watching this kid. I think it’s his first film role. And he must have spent the last year, every single minute, watching Elvis. He had him down like you cannot believe.”
