Elvis Presley: Linda Thompson Said This to the King About Marriage to Priscilla: ‘You Should Have Married a Southern Girl’
Elvis Presley‘s girlfriend, Linda Thompson, reportedly sassed the King of Rock and Roll about his marriage to Priscilla Presley. However, Thompson once jokingly said to Presley, “you should have married a Southern girl,” after the couple discussed the end of his marriage.
Linda Thompson and Elvis Presley first met in 1972
Thompson first met Presley in 1972.
Subsequently, Thompson was Miss Tennessee and lived in Memphis.
Bill Browder, later known as performer TG Shepard, invited Thompson to a private film screening at the Memphian Theater.
Thompson shared she was in the theater’s lobby when she first laid eyes on Presley, who entered the room wearing a black cape with a high collar and a red satin lining despite the sweltering July heat.
Linda Thompson told Elvis Presley ‘you should have married a Southern girl’
He was the king of cool as well as the king of rock ‘n’ roll. He had an enormous heart, an unbridled generosity, an innovative talent, a loving, affectionate nature, and a profound sensitivity. He was an original. He… https://t.co/yHf85e8TgM
— Linda Thompson (@LindaThompsonLT) August 16, 2020
In an interview with the official Elvis Australia Fan Club, Thompson explained why she told the King of Rock and Roll, “you should have married a southern girl.”
“I had just turned 22. But chronologically, I was older than I was emotionally, having grown up in the South in a kind of a sequestered environment, you know, very traditional and conservative. Twenty-two going on, you know, 13,” Thompson explained.
Presley’s marriage to Priscilla was over when they met.
However, Thompson said, “I was pretty standoffish because, you know, I was a good Southern Baptist girl.”
“During one of his nuzzles, he said, ‘Honey, you know I’m not married anymore.'”
Thompson followed her remarks with, “you know, I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you, but you should have married a Southern girl.'”
Thompson said she and Presley were ‘kindred souls’
Thomson referred to the fact that she and Presley had the same values in the interview.
“We just hit it off immediately because we grew up in Memphis and had the same religious beliefs, love for our family, devotion to mother and father. The same sense of loyalty, and enjoyed the same Southern cuisine.”
But, Thompson said Presley agreed with her assessment, agreeing they had a kinship.
“He always remembered my saying that because he said you have no idea how honest, truthful, and right on that was. Only if you grow up in the South do you understand that culture completely. And he was very southern. And so, I think we had an immediate kinship. We were kindred souls right away.”
Presley and Thompson dated for four years, from 1972 through 1976.
Subsequently, Thompson’s relationship with Presley was not mentioned in the new Baz Luhrmann film Elvis starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks.
