Priscilla Presley Says She ‘Didn’t Feel Like a Person’ When She Was With Elvis

Despite all of the love Priscilla Presley reserved for Elvis Presley, she admits that she “didn’t feel like a person” when she was with him. All of the focus was always on Elvis, and she claims that no one cared about her well being while they were together.

Priscilla Presley devoted her entire life to Elvis Presley

Priscilla Presley was willing to give up everything for Elvis. At just fifteen years old, she left her family to live with Elvis (who was 25 at the time.) She had abandoned her entire life back home so she could serve Elvis as his lover. And being his girlfriend, Priscilla implies, was like a full-time job. She had to mold herself into his ideal woman, to the point where she felt more like his live-in doll than his girlfriend.

“I was Elvis’s doll, his own living doll, to fashion as he pleased,” she says in her memoir titled Elvis and Me.

“He taught me everything,” she reveals. “How to dress, how to walk, how to apply makeup and wear my hair, how to behave, how to return love- his way. Over the years, he became my father, husband, and very nearly God.”

And once Elvis started to have affairs with other women, Priscilla says she became obsessed with trying to become his dream woman. She would study his interests, listen to his favorite music, and present herself in the most stylish way possible. Priscilla admits that as tiresome and high maintenance as their relationship could be, she was determined to remain his lover because she didn’t want anyone else taking her place.

Priscilla Presley says she ‘didn’t feel like a person’ when she was with Elvis Presley

In an interview with Barbara Walters in 1985, Priscilla opened up about how neglected she often felt in their relationship. According to the actor/businesswoman, everything revolved around Elvis. It was his world, and everyone else was just living in it.

“There were times when I did not even feel like a person,” she confesses. “I mean, Elvis was always the concerned person. He was first and foremost, and no one cared about you. No one cared about your feelings, what you were going through, your sensitivities. That was never there. And now I feel like I’m a person.”

She adds that because Elvis tried so hard to keep up a macho appearance around her, their communication with each other was horrible.

“He was a father to me,” she reveals. “He was my mentor. To show any kind of vulnerability or insecurity to me was not macho and was not something that he felt like I should see. So our communication was horrible. It was terrible.”

Priscilla Presley says Elvis Presley didn’t have time to listen to her problems

Elvis lived a hectic life, to the point where he didn’t have time to focus on anyone else’s concerns but his own. Even his lover’s problems were something he didn’t care to hear about, and he taught Priscilla about the importance of mystique. Elvis told her it was best to keep things to herself in order to remain attractive. And because of this, Priscilla felt like she couldn’t openly communicate with Elvis at all.

“He always avoided problems,” she reveals in her memoir. “If I was disturbed or distressed, or if I felt we were becoming distant and wanted to get closer by talking it out, he avoided me or told me my timing was bad. There was never a good time.”