EXCLUSIVE: Priscilla Presley's Toxic Marriage to Elvis Exposed Like Never Before — And How 80-Year-Old Still Holds a Candle for the King Despite his Abuse
Priscilla Presley's marriage to Elvis was filled with plenty of dark moments.
Sept. 25 2025, Published 6:30 p.m. ET
Priscilla Presley has revealed Robert Kardashian once asked her to marry him – but she turned him down because she was still in love with Elvis Presley.
The 80-year-old actor and businesswoman makes the admission in her new memoir Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis, which traces her turbulent life after divorcing the King of Rock 'n' Roll in 1973 – and which RadarOnline.com can reveal lays bare the toxicity of her marriage to the crooner like never before.
Robert Kardashian Wanted To Marry Her
Presley writes Robert Kardashian was eager to marry her.
Two years after her split from Elvis – said to have left her tormented with his affairs and prescription drug abuse – she began dating Kardashian, then a rising lawyer in Los Angeles, and long before his name became synonymous with reality television through his children Kim, Kourtney, Khloé, and Rob.
A source close to Presley claimed: "Robert was serious about making a life with her, but Priscilla's heart was elsewhere. She never stopped loving Elvis, and that made it impossible for anyone else to truly break through. She admits she could not say yes to Robert because of the deep hold Elvis still had on her."
In her book, Presley writes: "Robert was a sweet man and I liked him. Robert wanted to get married, but I knew it wouldn't work. I wasn't ready to marry again. I mean, I was very much in love with Elvis, very much. I am still very much in love with him. I didn't leave him because I didn't love him; I just couldn't live the life."
Presley met Elvis in 1959 when she was 14 and he was stationed with the US Army in Germany. They married in 1967 but split six years later, with Elvis' infidelities and controlling behavior straining their union.
She recalls how he dictated her clothes, hairstyle, and friends, telling her exactly how to present herself as his wife.
Presley Was Living 'Two Lives'
The iconic singer was 'controlling,' according to Presley.
The hold Elvis retained on her life lingered long after their separation. Presley describes how, during her relationship with Kardashian, Elvis once rang her at 2am while she was in bed with her new partner, leaving her terrified he might discover the truth.
"Robert never knew how much Elvis still dominated her thoughts," said a friend. "She felt like she was living two lives." Their romance with Kardashian lasted only a year, with Presley admitting she grew bored and was unfaithful. After Kardashian, she dated actor Michael Edwards and was courted by Spanish singer Julio Iglesias, who invited her to his hotel room after a night out.
She declined, she says, because Iglesias reminded her too much of Elvis. Presley also addresses long-standing rumors, denying claims she was romantically involved with American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe. She calls him a "good friend and companion," but nothing more.
Other relationships ended badly: she recalls in her book a celebrity hairdresser who jealously monitored her every move, and how Edwards once humiliated her by walking into a crowded restaurant wearing nothing but a napkin.
Presley still loved Elvis, despite his abusive ways.
The memoir devotes significant space to Presley's relationship with her daughter Lisa Marie, who died in January 2023, aged 54. Presley recounts the agonizing decision to remove her from life support after doctors warned she would have "no quality of life at all."
She fainted as she left the hospital. Presley also writes of her granddaughter Riley Keough, who became sole trustee of Lisa Marie's estate after a legal settlement last year.
She says: "My oldest granddaughter has always been a force to be reckoned with.
"The book closes with Presley reflecting on her losses, saying: "Every morning, I wake up and realize that a big part of me is gone forever."
Presley Accuses Elvis Of 'Rape'
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She accuses Elvis of 'rape' in her memoir.
RadarOnline.com also revealed Presley's book alleges Elvis subjected her to rape. She describes their final sexual encounter as a forced assault that left her traumatized.
The actress and businesswoman claims in her memoir how Elvis, then 38, forced himself on her after learning she had begun an affair with her karate instructor, Mike Stone. The assault, she writes, has remained a painful memory of her last experience of sexual intimacy with the man she married as a teenager.
Priscilla recalls when Elvis discovered her relationship with Stone, his reaction turned violent.
She claims: "He forced himself on me, the way he imagined a karate master doing it. It left me with an unhappy memory of my last experience of sexual intimacy with Elvis."
