Following the release of the popular film Elvis in cinemas, many people online began reevaluating Elvis Presley’s marriage to Priscilla Presley. Although the movie was a box office hit, many important facts of Elvis and Priscilla’s romance were omitted. In particular, Elvis broke a promise he had made to Priscilla’s parents in 1963.

While serving in the US Army, Elvis was stationed in Friedberg, Germany, where he first met Priscilla. It was love at first sight for the young lady, who was just 14 at the time.

The celebrity told her, “What do we have here?”

She replied that she was in ninth grade, and he asked, “What are you, about a junior or senior in high school? Why, you’re just a baby.”

“I saw Elvis trying to get my attention,” Priscilla said to E!

“I observed that he started singing exclusively for me the less I responded. The fact that Elvis Presley was attempting to impress me shocked me.”

Elvis Presley and Priscilla were very happy together – for a time (Image: GETTY)

After his duty was over in 1960 – at 25 -, he left the nation and went back to the US. At the time, he was residing at Memphis, Tennessee’s Graceland.

The young lovers remained in contact. They spoke on the phone often, and eventually their chats drifted to Priscilla’s trip to visit Elvis at Graceland.

One summer, she went to see him. The broken promises to Priscilla’s parents began here.

Priscilla’s parents had insisted that Priscilla stay in Memphis the duration of her trip. Elvis, though, brought Priscilla to Los Angeles for a bit after she arrived. To maintain the lie, he asked friends to send her parents postcards from Memphis.

Elvis yearned for more. Never again did he want to be apart from Priscilla. He then began trying to persuade Priscilla to live with him permanently.

However, there was a problem. The idea did not appeal to Priscilla’s parents.

Elvis decided to resolve the situation on his own. He called Anne, her mother, and Captain Paul Beaulieu, her stepfather, to inquire if he could permanently relocate Priscilla to the United States.

Presley gave assurances to Priscilla’s mother Ann and stepfather Captain Paul Beaulieu that she would attend a Memphis Catholic school and graduate high school.

Second, he assured Priscilla’s parents that she wouldn’t be residing in Graceland under his roof. He told them that Priscilla could reside with Vernon, Presley’s father. Vernon Presley lived nearby and recently remarried to a woman, Dee.

Presley also promised that the pair will go on every date with a chaperone. He pleaded with them, telling them he “loved, needed, and respected” little Priscilla. Her parents agreed that she seemed destined for marriage.

The agreement was reached three months later, in March 1963. Priscilla moved to the USA. Not all of Elvis’ promises, though, were fulfilled.

Priscilla found living with Vernon and his wife to be “uncomfortable.” She eventually moved into Graceland with Elvis as a result.

She moved permanently without her parents realizing it.

However, a major upheaval for the young couple and Priscilla’s domestic aspirations soon followed.

Elvis started accepting more acting roles in Hollywood. He was thus absent from Memphis for weeks at a time.

Then, in 1963, Elvis started dating Ann-Margret, a co-star in Viva Las Vegas. Their relationship continued for just over a year before Priscilla learned about it.

Once she did, she became upset. She also insisted that Elvis end their relationship and commit. He had no option.

The three and a half carat diamond that Presley used to propose to Priscilla before Christmas 1966 was made by Memphis jeweler Harry Levitch.

Years later, on May 1, 1967, Elvis and Priscilla exchanged vows in a quiet ceremony. After arriving in Las Vegas aboard Frank Sinatra’s plane, they were married at the Aladdin Hotel.

Colonel Tom Parker invited his personal friends and family, along with some business people from the music industry, to the modest gathering.

However, the union was short-lived. In 1973, the couple got a divorce.

Priscilla Presley tried to uphold the King’s legacy after his passing. She was a founding member of Elvis Presley Enterprises. The charity worked with her as chairperson to make Graceland a popular tourist site.