Priscilla Presley has opened up about her late daughter Lisa Marie Presley’s short-lived marriage to Michael Jackson, calling the union “appalling.”
In an excerpt from her upcoming memoir, Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis, published by The Sun on Saturday, Elvis Presley’s ex-wife, 80, revealed her doubts about her daughter’s marriage from the start.
“I asked her if they had a physical relationship,” Priscilla wrote. “Like so many people, I wasn’t sure. She said yeah.”
Priscilla went on to detail why she was unimpressed even when her daughter and the King of Pop did tie the knot in 1994—though the union that only lasted until 1996.
“I was appalled by the marriage,” she wrote. “I knew in my bones that Michael wasn’t marrying Lisa Marie; he was marrying the Presley dynasty,” she wrote.
Priscilla describes Jackson as manipulative, suggesting he sought “good publicity” following past allegations of child abuse.
“Michael was a manipulative man, and I think he had his sights set on her long before she realised it,” she wrote, per The Sun.
“The childlike innocence he projected was part of his public mask.”
Priscilla also claims the Billie Jean singer avoided meeting her at family events and preferred the company of children.
Reflecting on Lisa Marie’s divorce in 1996, Priscilla wrote she could “practically hear Elvis sigh with relief.”
