A black and white picture of Elvis holding Priscilla Presley's hand and kissing her cheek. She wears her wedding dress and a veil and he wears a tuxedo. They sit at a table.

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Priscilla Presley Took Sleeping Pills After Elvis Blatantly Ignored Her in Favor of Groupies

Priscilla Presley watched Elvis flirt with groupies during a Bible reading. She left the room and took sleeping pills to get his attention.

by Emma McKee

Published on August 31, 2023

3 min read

Priscilla Presley grew increasingly frustrated with Elvis while he read the Bible

Priscilla sat in on one of Elvis’ Bible readings and noted that many attendees seemed more interested in her boyfriend than what he was saying.

“By the mid-sixties he was holding Bible readings in the den of our Bel Air home,” she wrote in her book Elvis and Me. “I sat next to him one evening as he read passages with great force. Facing us were several of his young female admirers wearing the lowest-cut blouses and the shortest miniskirts. They all listened attentively, disciples enraptured in the presence of ‘their’ lord.”

To make matters worse, Elvis flirted with the women when they asked questions. He complimented one woman for wearing Chanel No. Five. Priscilla found this infuriating, as she had the same perfume, and he never complimented her when she wore it.

Eventually, she got up and changed into a tight black dress, Elvis’ favorite, to get his attention. It didn’t work.

“Returning a few minutes later, I took my place beside him, but he was wrapped up in preaching to his devotees and had totally overlooked my absence,” she wrote. “To make matters worse, he didn’t even notice my change of costume. I managed to conceal my distress behind a fake smile and an attentive gaze, but I couldn’t help noticing that he was responding to them with an occasional wink or smile.”

Priscilla Presley decided to take sleeping pills in response to Elvis’ behavior

Finally, Priscilla had enough. She left the reading and retreated to her bedroom, where she planned to take sleeping pills to get Elvis’ attention.

“Picking up a half-full bottle of Placidyls, I devised a plan to create a dramatic effect that, in my mind, would win his attention,” she wrote. “I stared at them, thinking, what if I choke to death? I decided to take two pills to start. That way, I could take a quick shower, redo my makeup, put on my prettiest camisole, and still have time to position myself dramatically on the bed before I consumed the rest of the bottle.”

In the end, though, she only took one more pill. Her fury at hearing Elvis laughing in the other room kept her awake. When he came back into the room, she only positioned herself as if she’d fallen asleep while reading one of his books.

Priscilla admitted that when Elvis covered her with a blanket and kissed her goodnight, her anger evaporated. She couldn’t stay mad at him when he gave her attention.

She worried about the quantity of pills he took

Priscilla had easy access to sleeping pills because she and Elvis frequently took them. He also gave them amphetamines. While Priscilla took them at Elvis’ request, she began to worry about the quantity of pills Elvis was consuming.

“I started to question the quantities even though I knew he had various ailments causing pain which necessitated taking prescribed medication,” she wrote. “I did everything for Elvis and we shared many wonderful happy times together. However his harsh objection to stopping made me realize that there could be a problem. I assumed he knew best for himself.”