PRISCILLA Presley has finally opened up about her late daughter Lisa Marie’s bizarre, brief marriage to Michael Jackson.
In her memoir, Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis, Elvis‘ widow Priscilla, 80, slammed the King of Pop as a “manipulative man” who used Lisa Marie for her family name.
Priscilla Presley poses during the Vineyard Wine Bar Bistro Presents Priscilla Presley on January 5, 2023 in Orlando[/caption]
Michael Jackson cuddled then-wife Lisa Marie Presley in Versailles in 1994[/caption]
Michael and Lisa Marie were seen in Budapest during their short marriage, which ended in 1996[/caption]
Priscilla and Lisa Marie arrived at the 25th Annual William S. Paley TV Festival’s “Elvis ’68” at the ArcLight Theater on March 14, 2008 in Hollywood[/caption]
Priscilla claimed she was immediately “appalled” when Lisa Marie called to let her mother know she was marrying Michael in 1994.
“I was appalled by the marriage,” she wrote. “I knew in my bones that
Michael wasn’t marrying Lisa Marie; he was marrying the Presley dynasty.”
She said he needed “good publicity” after he was hit with child molestation accusations, claims he vehemently denied at the time. (Priscilla claimed Lisa Marie believed in his innocence.)
Priscilla claimed Michael began reaching out to Lisa Marie during his child abuse scandal.
“Michael was a manipulative man, and I think he had his sights set on her long before she realized it,” she wrote. “The childlike innocence he projected was part of his public mask.”
Priscilla said her relationship with Michael was “bizarre,” claiming he actively avoided his new mother-in-law at all costs, and preferred to hang out with children rather than adults while at family gatherings.
Lisa Marie told her Michael wanted to have a baby, but Priscilla begged her to wait to get to know him better.
‘SIGH WITH RELIEF’ OVER DIVORCE
The concerned mother also asked her daughter uncomfortable questions.
“I asked her if they had a physical relationship. Like so many
people, I wasn’t sure,” Priscilla wrote. “She said yeah.”
When Lisa Marie filed for divorce less than two years after their whirlwind wedding, Priscilla said: “I could practically hear Elvis sigh with relief.”
After Michael’s split from Lisa Marie, he had two children with second wife Debbie Rowe: Prince, 28, and Paris, 27.
He also had Blanket, now known as Bigi, 23, with a surrogate.
PRISCILLA TELLS ALL IN MEMOIR
Elvis’ first wife shares her story in her new book
Priscilla Presley releases her second memoir, Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis, on September 23.
In the new book, she discusses her volatile marriage to Elvis, her high-profile romances after their divorce, and Lisa Marie’s tragic death at just 54.
“We were there all day long,” Priscilla told People ahead of the book’s release.
“Lisa really wasn’t breathing, so she was on the ventilator. For hours we were there waiting, hoping and praying until the doctor came in and said, ‘Priscilla, I’m so sorry, she’s gone.’ We just couldn’t believe it, didn’t want to believe it. It was hard on all of us, it still is.”
Priscilla wrote her first book, Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock N’ Roll, in 1985.
Lisa Marie had daughter Riley, 36, and son Ben with her first husband, Danny Keough.
Ben died by suicide at age 27 in 2020.
With fourth husband Michael Lockwood, she also had twin daughters Harper and Finley, who are now 16.
Tragically, Lisa Marie died from a bowel obstruction at just 54 in 2023.
Michael died from a drug overdose at 50 in 2009.
Priscilla’s book will hit bookshelves on Tuesday, September 23.
Michael performed at Wembley Stadium, London, on his Dangerous’World Tour in July 1992[/caption]
Priscilla and Elvis married in 1967[/caption]
