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Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley were together for years before their marriage. They wed in 1967 after eight years together. By 1973, though, they had divorced. They remained fixtures in each other’s lives until Elvis’ death in 1977. While Elvis entered into other relationships, he entertained the idea of getting back together with Priscilla. She spoke to him about making it work, and he shared his vision for their future.

Elvis and Priscilla Presley spoke about getting back together

Elvis cheated on Priscilla all throughout their relationship, to a point where she didn’t think he could ever be with only one woman at a time. After they divorced, though, he told her a different story. 

In 1977, Elvis was engaged to Ginger Alden, but Priscilla remained in his life. When they were together, Elvis often complained about his relationship to his ex-wife.

“In discussing his dilemma, I asked, ‘Do you think you can really live with just one woman?'” Priscilla wrote in her book Elvis and Me. “‘Yes,’ he answered. ‘Now more than ever. I know I’ve done some stupid things, but the stupidest was not realizing what I had until I lost it. I want my family back.'”

Priscilla Presley holds a baby Lisa Marie Presley. Elvis holds his hand out to his daughter.
Lisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Presley, and Elvis Presley | Magma Agency/WireImage

His comments made Priscilla wonder if they could make it work. After several years apart, Elvis’ life goals seemed more aligned with her own.

“I wondered if there was some way we could make it work,” she wrote. “‘Maybe it was just too early in life for us, Sattnin,’ I said. ‘Maybe one day there will be a time for us.'”

Elvis agreed. He shared the way he saw their future together.

“‘Yeah,’ Elvis laughed. ‘When I’m seventy and you’re sixty. We’ll both be so old we’ll look really silly, racing around in golf carts.'”

Elvis wanted to get back together with Priscilla following their divorce

After Elvis and Priscilla separated, Elvis turned to her parents to help repair the relationship

“After their divorce, Elvis wouldn’t let go,” Priscilla’s mother Ann said in Elvis by the Presleys. “He called me and said, ‘Please speak with Cilla.’ He begged me to convince her to go back to him.”

Ann recognized that Elvis earnestly wanted to get back together with Priscilla. She knew she had to respect her daughter’s wishes to move forward from the relationship, though. 

Why did Priscilla Presley divorce Elvis?

Priscilla described Elvis as the love of her life. By the end of their marriage, though, she knew she had to move on from the relationship. He had controlled nearly every element of her life since she was 14 years old. In order to grow into her own person, she had to move forward.

Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley stand in front of a red curtain while people throw confetti at them. He wears a tuxedo and she wears a wedding dress and veil.
Elvis and Priscilla Presley | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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Priscilla Presley Said Elvis’ ‘Greatest Fear’ in Their Relationship Led Him to Pull Away From Her

“I didn’t have my teenage years as a normal girl, obviously, so I had to adapt,” she reveals on the show Loose Women. “So I just kind of followed what he did. I mean, you lived his life,” she says. “You saw the movies he wanted to see. You listened to the music he wanted to listen to, and you go to places that he would go. I honestly didn’t have my own life … So I really kind of lost myself. I did not divorce him because I didn’t love him. He was the love of my life, but I had to find out about the world.”