Priscilla Presley's Divorce From Elvis Changed Her Forever

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Priscilla Presley first met Elvis when she was just a 14-year-old, while he was already in his 20s.Only seven years later, she would marry him, stepping into the whirlwind orbit surrounding the King of Rock and Roll. In an essay penned for PEOPLE, Priscilla admitted at just 14, "I found myself deeply involved with Elvis. Something in his Southern upbringing had taught him that the 'right' girl was to be saved for marriage. I was that girl." She was just a young teenager, and his influence quickly permeated nearly every part of her life. 

Being the "right" one for him didn't mean she was free to become her own person. Rather, he was heavily involved in her teen years. She explained, "At the same time, he molded me into his woman. I wore the clothes, hairstyle, and makeup of his careful choosing." Having her identity shaped by him from such a young age helps outsiders grasp why their 1973 divorce was one of the biggest turning points in her life — a defining moment that continues to shape her story decades later.

Within nine months of tying the knot, Priscilla gave birth to their only child, Lisa Marie Presley, who co-wrote a memoir with her daughter, Riley Keough, that became an Oprah's Book Club pick. It was after welcoming their daughter that Priscilla felt Elvis began treating her differently, feeling emotionally distant. He spent more time on the road than at home, and letters from the women he met on tour didn't help. Soon after, she began to wonder what it would be like to go on her own journey — to find herself and figure out what she liked and wanted to do — rather than live in the shadow of one of the world's biggest stars.

After six short years of marriage, Priscilla left Elvis in early 1972, and the pair officially signed divorce papers in October 1973. In 1978, Priscilla told PEOPLE that the decision to divorce came down to the fact that for Elvis, his happiness came above anything. "My problems were secondary," she recalled. 

While many divorces end because two people fall out of love, Priscilla wanted the world to know that wasn't the case. In a 2016 interview with Loose Women, she made one thing clear: "I didn't divorce him because I didn't love him ... he was the love of my life, truly. If anything, I left because I needed to find out what the world was like." The divorce from the King of Rock and Roll marked a new beginning for Priscilla.

Four years after her divorce, Elvis Presley died of a heart attack in 1977. While their marriage ended years earlier, the two remained close friends, so close they would easily be considered one of today's celeb couples that are total 'divorce goals'. His passing was one of the most devastating moments of Priscilla's life. After mourning his death, Priscilla knew it was time to start living her own life and embrace the independence she'd started to build after their divorce — something she desperately needed to do. 

In her Loose Women interview, Priscilla was asked whether she sought therapy after divorce to help with her journey to self-discovery, and she explained that while she never went to therapy, "it was quite a journey. I didn't sign a check until I was 29 years old ... everything was there for me ... But ... as a woman, I didn't really know who I was." Her words showed just how much effort it took to find herself solely on her own terms. When asked at what age it was that Priscilla felt she was really forging her own path, she confidently answered, "27." 

She began a new life in California as an actor, starring in "The Naked Gun" and the TV series "Dallas." Priscilla also searched for love again and dated karate instructor Mike Stone, attorney Robert Kardashian, and producer Marco Garibaldi, with whom she lived for more than two decades and had a son with.

Priscilla Presley wasn't just making a name for herself; around the same time, she was also trying to revive Graceland and keep her ex-husband's legacy alive. After Elvis and his father died in 1977 and 1979, respectively, Lisa Marie was named the sole heir to Elvis's estate, but as a minor, control fell into the hands of Priscilla, which turned out to be what the estate needed.

In a 1989 interview with the Los Angeles Times, she recalled her shock at the crumbling estate with tons of unpaid bills and no new income. "A million things flashed through my mind ... I worried about my daughter's future and about Graceland and the people who had worked for us for 20 years. I couldn't comprehend them not having jobs or a place to stay," she worried. Determined, she set out to find a solution for everyone, and she saw it in the Graceland mansion. Despite everyone telling her the mansion should be put up for sale, Priscilla decided to turn the estate into a tourist attraction. 

When Lisa Marie reached the appropriate age to take control of the estate, she had her mother remain as a co-trustee of the estate, up until Lisa Marie died in 2023.

As outsiders, it's hard to grasp just how profound an impact Elvis had on Priscilla Presley's life — both during their marriage and in the following decades without him. Her two memoirs, written decades apart, offer a rare glimpse at her marriage to Elvis and how it defined her, as well as the journey she took to forge her own path after him. In 1985, with the help of Sandra Harmon, Priscilla wrote, "Elvis and Me." Covering the period from when she met Elvis to the moment they got divorced and up to his sudden death, it's a tell-all memoir about every aspect of Priscilla's life that involved Elvis.

In September 2025, she released her second memoir, "Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis," which looks into what her life has been like in the decades after her divorce and losing him at such an early age. Readers who got an early preview of the book praised the memoir and Priscilla for being so raw and honest about her life. One Goodreads reviewer wrote, "I have always been fascinated by Priscilla. So beautiful, the epitome of feminine glamour, she is still a fashion icon even now. This book follows her life from her days with Elvis, while focusing more on her life after. It was absolutely fascinating ... She so beautifully captured losing both her husband, and then her daughter." 

For someone thrust into a fast-paced life and role of a loving wife to a world-famous star at such a young age, two tell-all memoirs just weren't enough to capture the full scope of her journey. Which is why Priscilla Presley joined Sofia Coppola as the executive producer of Coppola's "Priscilla," a biopic inspired by her life.  

After reading Priscilla's memoir, "Elvis and Me," Coppola was inspired to make a movie. In a joint interview with Priscilla for "The Hollywood Reporter," Coppola said, "I was struck by how much I connected with [the memoir] emotionally. I thought it was just going to be a fun adventure, and I was surprised by how relatable her story was." Priscilla agreed to join the project because she felt like Coppola was someone who could understand her perspective and authentically tell her story. 

The film came a little over a year after Baz Luhrmann's "Elvis" in November 2023, sitting at an 84% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Vulture describing the film as "an uncomfortable and thoroughly engaging watch, one that is most interesting in the context of Coppola's filmography." During a press conference at the Venice Film Festival after the film's premiere, Priscilla said that while it was "very difficult to sit and watch a film about you and about your life and about your love," she briefly paused, visibly emotional, before adding, "Sofia did an amazing job. She did her homework."