Priscilla Presley on ‘Priscilla’ self-portrait and her age gap with Elvis: ‘He respected the fact that I was only 14’

With the launch of Priscilla (2023), film adaptation of elvis and me (1988), memoir by Priscilla Presleythe former partner of Rock king was moved to remember his relationship with the musician and see his story portrayed in theaters (via Variety).

Directed and scripted by Sofia Coppola, Priscilla focuses on details of the troubled marriage and divorce between the King of Rock and the German, which took place in 1973 – including their first meeting, which took place when Priscilla he was only 14 years old. At the press conference, she assured that Elvis didn’t take advantage of her youth.

It was very difficult for my parents to understand that Elvis would be so interested in me and why. And I really think because I was more of a listener. Elvis would open his heart to me in every way in Germany: his fears, his hopes, the loss of his mother – which he never, ever got over. And I was the one who actually sat there to listen and comfort him. That was really our connection.

Although I was 14, I was actually a little older in life – not in numbers. That was the attraction. People think, ‘Oh, it was sex.’ No, it was not. I never had sex with him. He was very kind, very gentle, very loving, but he was also respectful of the fact that I was only 14. We were more aligned in thought and that was our relationship.”

Priscilla he still remembers not telling anyone he was going out with elvis, which was “another issue he loved, is the fact that I never gave up on him in any way.” About the separation, she says that the intense concert routine of Rock king was the big divider between the two “and I think any woman can relate to that.”

I didn’t know why he put so much trust in me, but he did. […] So we built a relationship and our relationship continued until I left. […] But that didn’t hurt our relationship, we still remain very close. And of course, we had our daughter and I made sure he saw her all the time. It was like we had never been apart.”

At the start of the press conference, Coppola also discussed how she realized how young Priscilla was when she first met Elvis. “I can go back to being that age and remember having a crush on an older guy and a rock star,” she said. “I just imagined myself from her point of view.”