Priscilla Presley Gave Elvis a 7-Word Warning When She Was in Labor With Lisa Marie
In the winter of 1968, Elvis Presley and his wife Priscilla eagerly awaited the birth of their first child, Lisa Marie Presley. However, the morning Priscilla’s water broke, she was much more concerned about getting her tardy husband to the hospital. She issued him a 7-word warning to get him moving faster.
How did Elvis Presley and Priscilla meet?
Elvis was stationed in Germany as a soldier for the United States Army when he met Priscilla at his rental house near the Army base in Bad Nauheim. The year was 1959.
E! News reported the couple’s first conversation revolved around her age. The musician asked Priscilla, “Well, what have we here? What are you, about a junior or senior in high school?” When she told him she was in ninth grade, he chuckled and said, “Why, you’re just a baby.”
To impress Priscilla, Presley sat down at a piano located in the home and began singing. “I saw Elvis trying to get my attention,” Priscilla told E! News.
“I noticed that the less I responded, the more he began singing just for me. I couldn’t believe that Elvis Presley was trying to impress me.”
This interaction led to a romance that lasted eight years. The couple said “I do” on May 1, 1967, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nine months later, Priscilla was ready to head to the hospital to give birth to their child. However, Elvis wasn’t awake.
Priscilla Presley gave Elvis a 7-word warning while in labor with Lisa Marie
In the book Elvis by the Presleys: Intimate Stories from Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley, and Other Family Members, Priscilla shared details of the morning she went into labor with her only daughter. She revealed her water broke early in the morning of Feb. 1, 1968.
Priscilla said it generally took Elvis a while to get out of bed. He was historically a late sleeper. Therefore, by the time he was ready to go to the hospital, Priscilla did her hair and put on a full face of makeup.
As they were getting ready to leave their Memphis, TN home, Graceland, and head to the hospital, Elvis realized he was missing something. He didn’t have the celebratory cigars to pass out at the hospital.
Priscilla said, “Elvis is moving around the house in slow motion while I’m crossing my legs. He finally finds his cigars, but now he’s lulling around the kitchen, getting a bite to eat. Elvis is acting like we’ve all the time in the world.”
When they finally got in the car, Elvis drove Priscilla to the wrong hospital. Instead of arriving at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis, Elvis headed to Methodist Hospital.
At this time, Priscilla issued a 7-word warning to her husband of less than one year. En route to the hospital, she exclaimed, “I’m having this baby in the car.”
Thankfully mother and daughter arrived at the hospital safely. Lisa was delivered at 5:01 p.m. on Feb. 1, 1968.
Priscilla Presley reflected on Elvis Presley as a father
Happy Birthday, Lisa Marie Presley. Today, we are remembering and celebrating your life ?
— Elvis Presley (@ElvisPresley) February 1, 2023
Repost: @VisitGraceland pic.twitter.com/C1h4ZE33sc
In a 2012 interview with The Guardian, Priscilla Presley recalled Elvis Presley as a father. She shared that while he didn’t have much to do with the practical side of parenting, he doted on his only daughter.
“Living at Graceland was difficult, but I knew when I got married that he was going to have his guys around all the time,” Priscilla admitted. “I could not domesticate Elvis, and I accepted that.”
She continued, “He didn’t really have that much to do with the practical stuff, but I took naturally to becoming a mother. I thought, ‘My God, this is a product of Elvis and me, and I’m going to be there for her.’
“The moment you have the child, everything changes. It is terrifying and beautiful and changed my life, bringing Elvis and me closer together.”
Elvis and Priscilla Presley divorced in 1973. They remained on good terms and co-parented Lisa Marie through Elvis’ death in 1977. Lisa Marie died on Jan. 12, 2023, of heart failure.
