The wedding of the King of rock ‘n roll, Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley has gone down in history for its unusual nature. We take a look at this infamous couple’s walk down the aisle.
Presley met his future wife, Priscilla Ann Beaulieu in 1959 when she was only 14 years old and he was 24. At the time, Elvis was serving in the army and Priscilla’s family lived on the base as her father was an Air Force Captain.
After Elvis returned to his estate in Memphis, the pair kept in touch until Priscilla’s parents allowed her to move there when she was 17. According to Country Living, her parents only allowed it on the condition that they would eventually get married.
The pair became engaged in 1966 when Elvis proposed to Priscilla with a three and a half carat diamond ring, with 20 smaller diamonds surrounding it. It is rumoured that, at the time, Elvis did not want to get married. Rather, he went through with it as he felt pressure from Prescilla’s father to do so.
This wedding has gone down in history as one of the most-talked-about ceremonies in the 20th century.
The wedding was organised by Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis’s manager. He gathered everyone to Palm Springs for the big day. “Just after midnight on May 1, [1967],” wrote Elvis’s school friend George Klein in a book, “the wedding party snuck out the back door of Elvis’s Palm Springs home, climbed over the backyard wall, and got into a car to head to the airport. Elvis had been loaned Frank Sinatra’s private jet for the occasion.”
Another plane brought the guests, and they arrived at the Aladdin Hotel where they exited through the back to ensure they weren’t seen.
Elvis and Priscilla made it official early in the morning after they were given their marriage license at the Las Vegas Courthouse. A supreme court judge married the pair in a suite at the Aladdin, and the room was filled with flower petals and candles. There were only 14 people present.
“My wedding was very unusual,” Priscilla once said. “It was the people closest to us, and private, and that’s how we wanted it. We didn’t want a fan club. We didn’t want a circus.”
Priscilla’s sister was the maid of honour, and two members of Elvis’s entourage, Marty Lacker and Joe Esposito, stood as the co-best men.
After their intimate wedding, they held a press conference and then threw a breakfast buffet for 100 guests. They served roast suckling pig, oysters Rockefeller, lobster, Champagne, and Southern fried chicken.
They had a six-tier sponge cake, with apricot marmalade filling and liqueur-flavoured cream for dessert.
In 1968, the couple welcomed their first and only child together, Lisa-Marie. Their marriage struggled after both had affairs, and Elvis’s touring took him away from home for extended periods of time. They separated in 1972 and formalised their divorce in 1973 after six years of marriage
Image: Instagram / elvispriscilla
