You may or may not know this but there is “out there” a vast contingent of people who have a real hatred of Priscilla Ann Wagner Beaulieu Presley. I’ve often tried to discern where this comes from. You see, I have this problem. I have the sometimes frustrating ability to see all sides of a story and both sides of an argument. I’ve often thought it would be so much easier to just pick one side of a fence and live or die on that side with those views. I guess in some cases this is true of myself but generally I find myself saying “I get it” when someone trots out a view that may differ from mine.

In the case of Priscilla Presley, I’ve struggled to understand where the venom comes from. I have the sneaking suspicion that it comes from that corner of Elvis World where live the die-hards. Those who are ultra-vehement in their discourse on Presley. Those who answer seemingly innocuous queries like “what’s your favourite Elvis song”? with an all caps exclamation that ALL OF THEM are the best and NONE OF THEM are bad. Steve Allen dresses King in a tux? LET’S GET HIM! Col. Parker? HANG HIM BY HIS THUMBS! Joyce Bova aborts his child? BURN. THE. WITCH. Period. End of discussion. Priscilla Presley? Married the King and then expressed frustration and sadness? Cheated on him with Mike Stone? Actually divorced him and took his child away? Well, obviously she is a horrible person and worthy of loathing, right? Well, no, not right. Is she an angel who has never put a foot wrong when it comes to Elvis Presley and his legacy? Of course not. Shoot, you know what? You know what this means? It just may be that she is a human being. Maybe she has done much to be lauded for and maybe she has made some blunders. And maybe the way she has been depicted in print, on-screen and in the media has been not all accurate. And not all inaccurate.

I thought it wouldn’t hurt to be honest about Cilla and the time now seems right to try to get a clear picture of her. Particularly in the societal climate of the 2020’s and in the wake of Sofia Coppola’s 2023 film Priscilla, based on Cilla’s own 1985 memoir, Elvis and Me. Let us begin by getting some things very clear. Priscilla Presley was Elvis Presley’s wife, the only woman he ever married. Priscilla was the mother of Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie, the late heiress to the fortune and the legacy of her famous father. Just as there is no other “Elvis” in history, there is simply no other woman who can lay claim to the position that Cilla holds and has held for at least the last 50-plus years. Love her or hate her, Priscilla – with her daughter – has been the keeper of the flame. Elvis Presley maintains, to this day, a rare place in the pantheon and this – love her or hate her – is due in large (?) part to Priscilla Presley.

Elvis Presley Enterprises “is a corporate entity created by ‘The Elvis Presley Trust’ to conduct business and manage its assets…(including) worldwide licensing of Elvis-related products and ventures, the development of Elvis-related music, film, video, television and stage productions, the ongoing development of EPE’s Internet presence, the management of significant music publishing assets, and more”. In this the 21st century, EPE basically is Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley Enterprises was created by Priscilla in 1979.

Additionally, in the wake of Presley’s death, Cilla was advised to sell Graceland to avoid bankruptcy but she had no intention of selling Lisa Marie’s first home. In 1982, the mansion was opened to the public. Today, Graceland is a revered National Historic Landmark visited by over 650,000 people every year. We have Priscilla Presley – in part – to thank for this. I have been there several times and it has always been an emotional and powerful experience. She has my gratitude and I’m sure that of many others. The next time you hate on Priscilla, consider her part in creating what EPE and Graceland are today.

But what of her status as a victim? And what of the assertion that Elvis Presley was a predator? The oft-told legend is that Elvis was enamoured of underage girls. This is true. It has been contended by author Alanna Nash that there are many and varied deeply rooted psychological reasons for this. I have tried to illuminate some of these things in my review of Nash’s stunning book, Baby, Let’s Play House. You can read that review here. I will add briefly that in today’s world many things are explained and even accepted because of someone’s mental wiring; the poor person has an illness or a disease. Let’s help them with that. Keep this acceptance in mind the next time you read of Presley’s inclinations.

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Elvis Presley met Priscilla Beaulieu when he was stationed in Germany. He was 24 3/4 years old and she was 14 years, almost 4 months old. Previously, Priscilla had learned that her stepfather, Air Force officer Paul Beaulieu (a Canadian) was being transferred to West Germany. Young Priscilla, having already been repeatedly moved around the United States, was crushed. Until a friend of hers mentioned that Elvis was stationed in a town close to where the Beaulieu’s would be living. 14-year-old Cilla – as she mentions in her own book – stated to her friend her intentions; “I’m going over there to meet Elvis”. She was a “girl on a mission”, one who started to attempt to emulate Debra Paget’s looks when she realized Presley was fond of his Love Me Tender co-star. As we all are.

Currie Grant (born January 8, 1932) is a fascinating and controversial player in Elvis World. The Airman First Class had ingratiated himself into the periphery of Elvis’ circle in Germany. Grant admitted to Priscilla biographer, Suzanne Finstad, that, though married, he was a sex addict. And he had seen Priscilla around the base and he had “wanted her”. In Elvis and Me, Cilla says Grant approached her. In Finstad’s book, Child Bride, Grant says Priscilla walked up to him, saying “I understand you know Elvis”. Either way, Grant said he and his wife often went to Elvis’ house and he said he would take Priscilla there. Captain Beaulieu gave his permission for the Grants to take his daughter to meet Elvis. More on Currie later.

Priscilla’s book describes that night, September 13, 1959. Elvis played the piano and asked Cilla what grade she was in, who the kids were listening to and who she herself liked – he was thrilled at her answer, Mario Lanza. Currie soon pointed to his watch and Cinderella’s night with the prince was over. Other reports differ, stating that the Grants had left Cilla alone with Elvis and later walked in on the two of them kissing. Later, according to “several people” in the house, EP took Cilla up to his bedroom. Priscilla herself confirmed this to a post-Elvis boyfriend, Mike Edwards. According to Currie Grant and Child Bride, on the first night they met, Elvis and Priscilla were alone in Elvis’ bedroom from 8:30pm until almost 1:30am. Priscilla does not mention this in Elvis and Me.

“That night, Elvis would transfer all of his symbolic feelings for his mother, his twin, and for Debra Paget onto Priscilla. Later he would tell her he knew at that moment that she was his ‘twin soul’, his destiny.”

Nash makes it clear that Elvis was more than smitten upon first meeting Priscilla. The emotional swirl that resulted from losing his twin, then his mother and added to this his unreciprocated feelings for Paget alighted on the slight shoulders of a 14-year-old girl

It is easy, perhaps, to view the tale up to this point as one of a star-struck, teenage girl meeting an international sex symbol who used his charisma and the clout of his personality to coerce her into a physical relationship. A virginal girl victimized by a promiscuous predator. But – like with many things in Elvis World – it is just not that simple.

Elvis Presley’s desire for companionship was acute; his need for female companionship was pathological. There is no denying his being taken with Priscilla when they first met and it is clear that the two shared a special connection. This is not really up for debate. However, Elvis needed women in his life – many different women to serve many different roles. It would actually perhaps be easier to understand this part of the Presley legend if he was “simply” a typical superstar who bedded thousands of women throughout his life, like so many other rock stars and celebrities. But – particularly after the loss of his mother – Elvis needed women in bulk; women to travel with, women to talk with, women to read with, women to hold him and be held and, yes, women to have intercourse with. So, while Priscilla became a unique presence in his life, she was never going to be the only woman he spent time with.

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The famous picture shows poor, young Priscilla waving goodbye to Elvis as he boards the plane to return to the States after his hitch in the Army. In Elvis and Me, Priscilla describes the days after Presley left Germany. “For the next two days I locked myself in my room, unable to eat, unable to sleep…I spent all my time writing and rewriting letters to him.” Well, not all her time. Rather than a moping kid who was getting ready to spend the rest of her life cherishing her brief time spent with Elvis Presley, Cilla was dating. Suzanne Finstad confirms that Tom Stewart was on the scene. Stewart was a kid Cilla’s own age who was actually the type of bad boy Priscilla favoured – and not like the “wholesome” Elvis. Priscilla was out with leather-jacketed Tom on his motorcycle, likely sexually intimate, and all the while the Beaulieus were telling any boy that came around that their daughter was “reserved” for Elvis Presley; “The parents would say ‘Our daughter is with Elvis Presley; you need to find someone else.'”

Elvis Presley knew no rest, for many reasons. The least of them was juggling the girls. EP returned to the States and saw many women all while keeping in touch with Cilla, explaining dismissively the gossip that distressed her and plotting to bring her to Memphis. Finally in 1963, Capt. Beaulieu and his daughter visited Elvis in Hollywood and the captain and the king talked it out. Cilla’s dad was impressed and he was on board, delivering Priscilla to Vernon’s care. Now, consider this; two years later, now-Major Beaulieu was talking to a subordinate. The major told the man that his daughter went to high school in Memphis and lives with Elvis Presley. “Are they going to get married?”, the man asked and Beaulieu answered “yes, that’s been arranged for several years now”.

“Many people think…that, in essence, Elvis ‘bought’ Priscilla, or that her parents ‘sold’ her into marriage.”

from Nash’s book

According to Priscilla’s friends in Germany, she was torn and did not necessarily want to go to Memphis. Mostly because of her boyfriend, Jamie Lindberg, with whom 17-year-old Cilla was intimate. Ann Beaulieu, Priscilla’s mother, was even afraid that her daughter would “throw Elvis over for Jamie” and apparently Ann stated plainly to her daughter “you are going” to Elvis in Memphis. Currie Grant says that even though every night after visiting Elvis in Germany he was bringing back young Priscilla later and later, when they got home all the Beaulieus had to say was “what time do you want her ready the next time?”.

The “Memphis Mafia” were with Elvis Presley 24/7. People who know little about Elvis know about them and that he was the first to travel with an entourage. He lived an insulated life but his boys were there for everything. Everything. They knew everything Elvis did or planned to do because they did it with him and/or arranged it – but they didn’t know that their boss was getting married. They didn’t know that Priscilla, Vernon Presley, and Col. Tom Parker “had formed a triumvirate” who’s plan it was to bring about the wedding. When he was married, Priscilla thought Elvis would stop philandering and be a proper husband, Vernon thought Elvis would decrease his payroll and save money, and Parker thought he’d get a client who was no longer a swinging bachelor and therefore he’d have increased marketability in an entertainment industry and society that was growing more controversially “counter-cultural”. And let’s not forget the promises Elvis had for years made to Major Beaulieu; all these factors made a Vegas wedding inevitable.

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For her book, Child Bride (2008), author Suzanne Finstad interviewed at length both Priscilla Presley and Currie Grant. Grant seemingly had no problem going into detail about his shameful behaviour. Part of the cost to Priscilla for being taken to meet Elvis Presley was succumbing to Currie’s advances on drives in the country. Grant made his play on the first trip – just kissing and Cilla was non-engaged. By their fourth car ride, Grant says Priscilla “did everything humanly possible to please” him and it was then he agreed to take her to Elvis. Kindly, Currie was forthcoming enough with Finstad to report that it was his opinion – based on their intercourse – that Priscilla was not a virgin.

“The bottom line, if Currie’s account is to be believed…(is that Priscilla) was not the virgin bride that Elvis always said he wanted. She was not even a virgin on the night he first met her.”

from Nash’s book

While writing her biography of Priscilla, Finstad managed to arrange an interview with Cilla and Currie Grant together. When she was presented with Currie’s account, Priscilla “became hysterical” and vehemently denied Grant’s side of the story, particularly the events leading to her meeting Elvis and intimacies between her and Grant. In 1998, Priscilla Presley sued Currie Grant for $10 million. The Los Angeles Superior Court issued a “default judgement” against Currie for libel and ordered him to pay $75,000. While that would seem to make it look like a “victory” for Priscilla, there was also “a confidential settlement agreement, a secret arrangement” entered into by the two parties. Cilla’s attorneys drafted a document stating that Currie Grant need not pay any of the $75K as long as he keeps his mouth shut. This letter states in part “Grant will no longer state to the Media that he had sex with Presley and Presley will no longer state to the Media that Grant attempted to rape her”.

“Clearly Priscilla has taken extraordinary measures to silence Currie, presumably to protect the myth of how she met Elvis and whether she was a virgin at the time.”

from Nash’s book

So, Currie Grant did not have to pay – but instead he was paid. Priscilla paid Grant $15,000 for pictures he took of her in Germany. And speaking of pictures of Priscilla Presley in Germany… Priscilla told Finstad that Currie Grant – due to his behaviour – was banned from coming anywhere near her and also that Elvis himself had banished him from the group. One of the things discussed when Cilla and Currie were interviewed together in the same room face-to-face was the day Elvis left Germany. Grant asserted that he drove Cilla to the airport that day. Priscilla scoffed at this. After all, Grant had been barred from the group, which included Priscilla. But Currie Grant could recall the make, model and license plate number of the car he drove that day. During her research, Finstad found a German magazine that had chronicled Elvis’ last day in the country. The article published in this magazine included pictures and in these pictures was the car in which Cilla was driven to the airport. Clearly seen in the pictures was the make, model and license plate of the car – just as Currie Grant remembered it. Even the time of day was confirmed by the detailed magazine article. “There in the magazine was a picture of Currie, opening the door of his 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air for Elvis and Priscilla”. There he was, the man supposedly banished from Elvis and Cilla’s midst.

If you need more, consider that Suzanne Finstad had a scientist run the interview with Priscilla and Grant through a personality stress evaluator, considered more accurate than a polygraph. The conclusion was that Currie Grant was telling the truth 100% of the time and Priscilla was “deceptive” in all but one statement, one about how Currie actually introduced himself to her. But it is important to note what Priscilla Presley’s biographer, Finstad, says about this whole affair; “Currie’s story doesn’t in any way tarnish Priscilla…It just makes her more human. She was like every other teenage girl in the world, desperate to make Elvis Presley her own”.

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It occurs to me that perhaps Priscilla Presley does not come out looking very good based on what we have seen here. But disparaging her is not my intention. The point I hoped to make is that Elvis Presley should not be too harshly judged here, either. He was not the conniving predator or “groomer” that today’s society delights in depicting. The story of Elvis and Priscilla is complicated and it is not as simple as the declaration that a powerful star preyed on an innocent, young girl. It should come as no surprise to a lucid thinking person that there is much more to the story. Surface discussions of things like the film Priscilla result in inaccurate depictions and assumptions.

The truth is not always out there when it comes to Elvis and Priscilla. But when their truth is revealed, it is seen to be not necessarily bad nor good. It simply is. Truth – in this case as in all cases – merely needs to be known, understood and accepted.

The truth is that young Priscilla was more than prepared to live like a woman and not the child she was. She was determined to meet Presley no matter what it cost her. And it seems that what she was charged by Currie Grant she was willing to pay. Elvis was ready to connect with someone he thought of as innocent, malleable and part of the age group he hoped to continue to be the hero of. They met and bonded on the deepest of levels. Elvis wanted her with him in Memphis – and when she arrived he promptly left her alone, a prisoner. After years of this, Elvis really had no other option but to marry her. Unsurprisingly, Priscilla thought marriage would change things for the two but it didn’t. Down through the years, Cilla hoped to present a version of events that simply was not true but for this she cannot be blamed. Priscilla Presley is human, after all, and prone to the same frailties we all are. Her successes in keeping the flame far outweigh her failures.

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Be sure to read the companion piece King Reader: Child Bride

Sources

1. Presley, Priscilla Beaulieu with Sandra Harmon. Elvis and Me. (1985)
2. Finstad, Suzanne. Child Bride: The Untold Story of Priscilla Beaulieu Presley. (2008)
3. Nash, Alanna. Baby, Let’s Play House: Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him. (2010)