Elvis Presley Controlled Priscilla’s Look So Aggressively She Felt Like His ‘Living Doll’
Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley are an iconic couple to music fans everywhere. Elvis, known as the “King of Rock and Roll,” married Priscilla at the height of his fame, and the two went on to welcome one child together.
Although they later divorced, to many fans, the couple is still linked and always will be. Still, in recent years, a number of Elvis’s behaviors have come to be regarded as very problematic, especially in terms of his early relationship with Priscilla.
When did Elvis Presley first meet Priscilla Presley?
In 1959, Elvis first met Priscilla Beaulieu when he was stationed at an army base in Germany. Elvis and the young girl hit it off quickly, in spite of the fact that there was a 10-year age gap between them — and a world of difference in terms of experience.
After Elvis was sent back to the United States, he and his young girlfriend maintained a long-distance relationship, writing letters to each other and remaining in touch.
In 1962, Priscilla persuaded her parents to let her move to Graceland, Elvis’s home. Although they hesitated at first, her parents eventually gave in, allowing the teenager to move to Tennessee.
There, she settled into a routine far different from any that she had previously known — one that she would eventually describe as “lonely,” since she was primarily surrounded by Elvis’s business associates and friends. She had no real friends of her own, and seemingly, no identity outside of being Presley’s girlfriend.
When did Elvis and Priscilla get married?
In May 1967, Elvis and Priscilla made things official and tied the knot in a Las Vegas ceremony. The couple didn’t get to enjoy the newlywed stage for very long, since they welcomed their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, only nine months after the wedding.
It was after the birth of their daughter that their relationship started to go downhill. In 1972, Priscilla Presley filed for divorce.
In spite of their separation, the former couple remained close friends. Right up until Elvis’s unexpected, shocking death in 1977, he and Priscilla were close, confiding in each other and seeing each other often for the sake of the young daughter that they loved so much.
To this day, Priscilla works hard to maintain her ex-husband’s legacy, working with historians and authors to document his life.
Elvis controlled the way Priscilla looked and dressed
Unfortunately, Elvis’s legacy has been somewhat tarnished in recent years by some reports that claim he enjoyed the company of underage girls a bit too much for comfort — a claim that is somewhat bolstered by the fact that he and Priscilla started dating when she was just 14 years old.
Additionally, several biographers claim that Elvis was obsessive over his wife, controlling everything from the way that she wore her hair to the way that she dressed. According to Biography.com, Elvis had caps placed on Priscilla’s teeth, made her dye her black (in order to match his), and even demanded that she dress in order to complement whatever he was wearing. Priscilla would later say she was “Elvis’ living doll, to fashion as he pleased.”
Priscilla wrote in her memoir that her husband didn’t like to see her without makeup, telling her: “You need to apply more makeup around your eyes. Make them stand out more. They’re too plain naturally. I like a lot of makeup. It defines your features.” She went on to state that the main reason that she later divorced Elvis was not that she didn’t love him — it was simply that she grew tired of his rules and wanted to explore the world for herself.
