In her shocking tell-all memoir, Elvis and Me, Priscilla Presley candidly wrote about her tumultuous relationship with Elvis—from her total adoration of him to his objectification of and control over her. It is a dynamic Olivia DeJonge set out to embody in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, telling Vogue ahead of its release in 2022 that “to play the full human being as being right in front of him the entire time, but him not having the sort of space to see that, was important to me.”
A more recent film, directed by Sofia Coppola, set out to shine the spotlight on Priscilla specifically. “Priscilla is such a minor character in [the Baz Luhrmann] film, so I never felt like I was treading on the same territory,” the filmmaker told Vogue in 2022. “It’ll be interesting to have two completely different interpretations of the same events and time period.”
Released last fall, Priscilla was executive produced by Presley herself—who approved of the casting of Cailee Spaeny—and it was a fashion bonanza. It had to be: The couple would not head downstairs in their own Graceland home until they were dressed to the nines. “Priscilla is a quintessential glamour icon,” Coppola said. “I love that she was always done-up.”
Here, revisit some of Priscilla Presley’s most iconic moments in 24 vintage pictures.
Photo: Getty Images1/241967
On May 1, Priscilla Beaulieu married Elvis Presley in a lace dress in Las Vegas, with the va-va voom hair and dramatic eyeliner that became her signature.
Photo: Getty Images2/241967
The happy couple showered with confetti on their wedding day.
Photo: Getty Images3/241963
With her dog, Honey, at Memphis International Airport.
Photo: Getty Images4/241973
After six years of marriage, the couple divorced. Still all smiles while leaving the courtroom, they maintained a close friendship until Elvis’s death.
Photo: Getty Images5/241974
At her clothing shop Bis & Beau Boutique in Beverly Hills.
Photo: Getty Images6/241974
A close-up of the beauty, with bouncy ’70s waves.
Photo: Getty Images7/241975
Photographed in a floral halterneck by the pool in her Beverly Hills mansion.
Photo: Getty Images8/241975
The real queen of the chessboard, at her Beverly Hills parlor.
.jpg)
Photo: Getty Images9/241975
Glamorously dressed next to her then boyfriend, karate instructor Mike Stone, at a high school kung fu tournament.
Photo: Getty Images10/241976
A candid shot at the Grammy Awards.
Photo: Getty Images11/241976
Posing with then-boyfriend Robert Kardashian at her home in Beverly Hills. (He would marry Kris Jenner, née Houghton, two years later.)
.jpg)
Photo: Getty Images12/241980
At an event for Wella, which she represented in campaigns alongside Brooke Shields and Farrah Fawcett.
Photo: Getty Images13/241980
Captured during a filming break while shooting Those Amazing Animals.
Photo: Getty Images14/241982
In the stables of Graceland, Elvis Presley’s estate—and now the most-visited privately owned home in America.
Photo: Getty Images15/241982
Gearing up for the opening of Graceland as a public memorial.
Photo: Getty Images16/241983
Astride a mechanical bull, and dressed in a satin shirt and indigo jeans, as she filmed Dallas.
Photo: Getty Images17/241985
Dining at the New York Hilton Hotel for the televised gala Night of 100 Stars II.
Photo: Getty Images18/241988
Swathed in black as she heads to Il Mulino in New York City.
Photo: Getty Images19/241989
With boyfriend Marco Garibaldi for the Lethal Weapon 2 premiere in Hollywood.
Photo: Getty Images20/241990
In cool gray tailoring while launching her perfume Moments.
Photo: Getty Images21/241991
Appearing with a bold red cut at a Hollywood premiere.
Photo: Getty Images22/241994
On stage for Elvis: The Tribute, a memorial show in the King’s hometown of Memphis.
Photo: Getty Images23/241996
With redder and shorter hair at the Fifi Fragrance Awards, known as the Oscars of fragrance.
Photo: Getty Images24/241999
In a sheer top and maxi skirt on the red carpet of the Bowfinger premiere.
