Priscilla Presley Calls Michael Jackson ‘Manipulative’ in…
Nearly four decades after publishing her first memoir, Elvis and Me, actress and author Priscilla Presley has returned with a new book that continues her story.
In Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis, released Tuesday, September 23, the 80-year-old, known simply as Priscilla, reflects on the life she built following her early years with Elvis Presley, the “King of Rock and Roll.”
Among the personal stories she shares, Priscilla revisits the moment her late daughter Lisa Marie Presley married King of Pop, Michael Jackson, just weeks after finalizing her divorce from musician Danny Keough. Priscilla admits she was not supportive of the whirlwind marriage.
“My lack of enthusiasm was obvious,” she wrote in her memoir, remembering how she reacted before the ceremony with a simple: “Really?”
“I knew in my bones that Michael wasn’t marrying Lisa Marie; he was marrying the Presley dynasty. The King of Pop was allying himself with the King of Rock & Roll. I didn’t believe he loved her,” penned Priscilla in her book. “Michael was a manipulative man, and I think he had his sights set on her long before she realized it.”
Priscilla went on to say she was “appalled” by her daughter’s decision to marry Jackson, also revealing that she helped talk Lisa Marie out of having a child with him.
Lisa Marie allegedly confided in her mother that “Michael wants us to have a child,” while walking on the beach in Hawaii.
“I didn’t trust his motives. A child would be a proof of virility. And I couldn’t help wondering if he wanted to have Elvis’s grandchild,” writes Priscilla. Lisa Marie also reportedly told her mother, “Michael says that if I don’t want to have a baby, Debbie Rowe will have one with him.” Priscilla’s response in the book read: “Oh, boy. Big red flag. Thank God, Lisa agreed with me that it was better to wait.”
Lisa Marie married Jackson in a private ceremony in the Dominican Republic on May 26, 1994. The relationship ended less than two years later, when she filed for divorce in 1996. Lisa Marie passed away in January 2023 at the age of 54. In a recent interview for the cover of PEOPLE magazine, Priscilla called Lisa Marie’s death “the second saddest day of my life, other than losing Elvis.”