by Victoria Meakin
More than 48 years after tens of thousands of devastated fans descended on Graceland in Memphis to mourn Elvis Presley, his former wife Priscilla Presley is still the keeper of his flame.
Forever linked to the King of rock’n’roll - a megastar before the term was even coined and still a recognisable face and name to children in the 2020s - Priscilla has an extraordinary tale to tell.
She is making two appearances in New Zealand this month - in Christchurch and Auckland - for her An Evening with Priscilla Presley, Life After Elvis tour.
The dates follow the release of her new memoir, Softly, As I Leave You - Life After Elvis, and will see the actress, businesswoman, and philanthropist sharing stories from her extraordinary life with Elvis and beyond.
“I don’t mind sharing him at all,” Presley says of the enduring interest in everything to do with ‘the King’.
The former couple were besieged by adoring fans during the 1960s and 70s, whenever they stepped out in public, meaning their time in the world outside of the iconic singer’s 5.6-hectare estate in Tennessee was often one of privately hired venues. From cinemas, to ice rinks and even fairgrounds, business owners would open late to allow Elvis, Priscilla and his entourage to experience a slightly skewed version of normal life.
A down-to-earth and self-aware personality, despite her astonishing life at the heart of the fame machine, Priscilla’s approach to Elvis’ fans is a generous one.
“He was very, very famous, and he was beloved. And that goes along with people asking me [questions] and knowing that I was married to him. They want to know about him, they want to know what’s the best thing I loved about him … the questions are actually quite cute, and I give them my time.”
A schoolgirl when she first met Elvis in Bad Nauheim, West Germany, in 1959, Priscilla’s stepfather, Paul Beaulieu, was an officer in the Air Force and the singer was undertaking his compulsory military service in the US Army.
He could have joined the Special Services entertainment division, but in a widely admired move at the time, opted to become a regular soldier.
After knowing each other for nearly eight years, the couple married in Las Vegas in 1967, the bride wearing her signature 1960s layered-on black eyeliner and mascara - a look she later revealed Elvis encouraged her to adopt.
Their daughter, the late Lisa Marie Presley, arrived in 1968 and although the marriage ended in 1972 the relationship remained positive.
She still loved Elvis, but did not love the lifestyle, she has recently shared in interviews ahead of her visit to the southern hemisphere.
When her ex-husband died from a heart attack at Graceland in August 1977, Priscilla flew directly to her former home - and to 9-year-old Lisa Marie - who was at the house when her father died.
Since then Priscilla has undertaken successful acting roles, including as Bobby Ewing’s love interest Jenna Wade on the hit US 1980s soap opera Dallas and in three of The Naked Gun movies, together with a brief comedy cameo in this year’s reboot, starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson.
She has been an ambassador for The Dream Foundation for 25 years - the only charity that grants final wishes to terminally ill adults.
Priscilla Presley will meet audiences in Christchurch and Auckland in this month for her An Evening with Priscilla Presley, Life After Elvis tour.
Getty/Christopher Ameruoso
More than 48 years after tens of thousands of devastated fans descended on Graceland in Memphis to mourn Elvis Presley, his former wife Priscilla Presley is still the keeper of his flame.
Forever linked to the King of rock’n’roll - a megastar before the term was even coined and still a recognisable face and name to children in the 2020s - Priscilla has an extraordinary tale to tell.
She is making two appearances in New Zealand this month - in Christchurch and Auckland - for her An Evening with Priscilla Presley, Life After Elvis tour.
The dates follow the release of her new memoir, Softly, As I Leave You - Life After Elvis, and will see the actress, businesswoman, and philanthropist sharing stories from her extraordinary life with Elvis and beyond.
Presley has announced two tour dates this month in Ōtautahi Christchurch and Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
Christopher Ameruoso
“I don’t mind sharing him at all,” Presley says of the enduring interest in everything to do with ‘the King’.
The former couple were besieged by adoring fans during the 1960s and 70s, whenever they stepped out in public, meaning their time in the world outside of the iconic singer’s 5.6-hectare estate in Tennessee was often one of privately hired venues. From cinemas, to ice rinks and even fairgrounds, business owners would open late to allow Elvis, Priscilla and his entourage to experience a slightly skewed version of normal life.
A down-to-earth and self-aware personality, despite her astonishing life at the heart of the fame machine, Priscilla’s approach to Elvis’ fans is a generous one.
“He was very, very famous, and he was beloved. And that goes along with people asking me [questions] and knowing that I was married to him. They want to know about him, they want to know what’s the best thing I loved about him … the questions are actually quite cute, and I give them my time.”
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A schoolgirl when she first met Elvis in Bad Nauheim, West Germany, in 1959, Priscilla’s stepfather, Paul Beaulieu, was an officer in the Air Force and the singer was undertaking his compulsory military service in the US Army.
He could have joined the Special Services entertainment division, but in a widely admired move at the time, opted to become a regular soldier.
After knowing each other for nearly eight years, the couple married in Las Vegas in 1967, the bride wearing her signature 1960s layered-on black eyeliner and mascara - a look she later revealed Elvis encouraged her to adopt.
Their daughter, the late Lisa Marie Presley, arrived in 1968 and although the marriage ended in 1972 the relationship remained positive.
Presley recently released a new memoir, Softly, As I Leave You - Life After Elvis.
Christopher Ameruoso
She still loved Elvis, but did not love the lifestyle, she has recently shared in interviews ahead of her visit to the southern hemisphere.
When her ex-husband died from a heart attack at Graceland in August 1977, Priscilla flew directly to her former home - and to 9-year-old Lisa Marie - who was at the house when her father died.
Since then Priscilla has undertaken successful acting roles, including as Bobby Ewing’s love interest Jenna Wade on the hit US 1980s soap opera Dallas and in three of The Naked Gun movies, together with a brief comedy cameo in this year’s reboot, starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson.
She has been an ambassador for The Dream Foundation for 25 years - the only charity that grants final wishes to terminally ill adults.
However, her dedication and loyalty to Elvis’ legacy has always been paramount.
Priscilla became co-executor of the Presley estate in 1979, overseeing its growth into a hugely successful organisation consisting of Graceland, a worldwide licensing program, merchandising, music publishing, and television and video projects.
Her involvement in 2022’s award-winning Baz Luhrmann biopic Elvis, starring Austin Butler, is a source of pride. It also prompts fond reflections of Lisa Marie - who died of cardiac arrest at the beginning of 2023.
“I loved him playing Elvis, Austin is great. He studied Elvis for two years, and he had him down unbelievably.”
The family was however anxious about seeing the film.
“My daughter [Lisa Marie] was really nervous about seeing it...
“And I said ‘you have to go see it’. I didn’t want to overdo it and go ‘oh my God, he was so great’, because my daughter wasn’t like that. She just wants the nitty gritty, the good, the bad, the indifferent.”
Priscilla saw the film again with her daughter, whose response was, “‘Wow mom, he did a great a job’.”
Following Lisa Marie’s death, within a year of that impactful screening, she was interred at Graceland, alongside her son Benjamin and close to her father’s resting place.
Grief had visited the family just three years previously, with the loss of Lisa Marie’s 27-year-old son, who a coroner confirmed had died by suicide.
More than 1.5 million people watched a livestream of Lisa Marie’s public memorial service at the Memphis estate, with hundreds attending in person, including Luhrmann and Butler.
Graceland will always feel like home, Priscilla says.
“Going back to Graceland, it’s like I never left. I can still feel Elvis’ spirit. I can go in the dining room and see us throwing the tinsel on the tree - just great, great memories there. I do like going there and just spending time a little bit.”
Now 80 years old, Priscilla Presley will be open about both the highs and some of the heartbreak, when she meets New Zealand audiences.
Having lived a life that only very few can truly relate to, she cherishes those who were a part of her journey.
“Elvis’ double first cousin, Patsy, is my best friend. She’s still with us, and we’re very very close.
“And there’s a couple of other people,” Priscilla says.
“Men who are still with us that worked for Elvis - thankfully we still have a couple of them - and I cherish that as well.”
Given her time at the centre of Elvis’ world, Priscilla Presley has an understandable preference for music from yesteryear.
“We had the best music. And now today, I don't even keep up with it. It comes and goes; it’s just not the same. But I do still have records and tapes and things, of the songs of the past, which I absolutely love.”
An Evening with Priscilla Presley, Life After Elvis is coming to The Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch (November 19, Ticketek) and Bruce Mason Centre in Auckland (November 20, Ticketmaster).
Victoria Meakin • Senior reporter
victoria.meakin@press.co.nz
Victoria Meakin is a senior arts reporter and spent many years as a news and arts broadcaster in the UK.