You know, I had my mother and my father convincing me that he would be going back to Hollywood and he`d be back with the actresses and dating them and that he wasn`t serious about me at all. So I had him saying one thing to me and my parents telling me something else.
No one has really heard my side of the story, the adventure we had together, the transformation that I had going from a schoolgirl to a woman overnight.
There were the phone calls and Elvis had asked me to visit him in Los Angeles. This was in 1962.
Yes, the divorce was difficult. It was difficult.
It`s not that, you know, when a relationship doesn`t work and there are issues, you have to somehow work it out if there are children involved.
There is a shyness about me, and I really need to get out more.
I lived a really wonderful life with this man and even after our divorce, it was incredible.
It was more that his career was going down again and he was tired of the songs. He was tired of the routine. And there was a point where he just kind of gave up. He couldn`t face being 40. And he resorted to stimulants. There`s a dark side there, a really dark side.
I don`t feel like a grandmother. I don`t.
Inner beauty should be the most important part of improving one`s self.
And when Elvis was unhappy, believe me, everyone was unhappy.
I was always the bad guy no matter what. I mean, even when Elvis was married, you know, it was - it was a lot of fanfare about that, also.
I don`t want to be someone`s entertainment.
(her reaction to Suzanne Finstad`s 1996 biography of her, "Child Bride") Talk about 5 minutes (of fame)! There are people in that book I`ve never even heard of. That woman made me out to be some kind of prostitute. I dated. But that was just my life . . .
You have to remember that when I met Elvis, you know, it wasn`t the fanfare that it is today or even when he was here in the states and I was in Germany growing up.
I just look at it, as it`s something that I had to do. I had this vision that really, Graceland is suited for a king and it is his castle. And people really should see it, as he loved it.
He would use amphetamines to stay awake because he would have late night maneuvers that would go way into the early morning hours and he was given pills to stay up for the long hours.
I did, but I`m not real fond of giving interviews.
At times he could be very critical. He didn`t like prints on me. He didn`t like stripes. He didn`t like boldness. He said I was petite and that was taking away from my looks.
You have so much to share, you have so much to tell, you have so much you want to expose, so much that`s inside that you`ve learned from that life period. There are really very few people I can share that with.
Elvis brought out this mothering quality. I cut his meat up for him. I tasted it before he ever had it. I would fix his deviled eggs, cut off the top, put his butter in, prepare all his food as a mother would for a child.
You know, you know, obviously, if my daughter`s happy, you know, then I don`t have any problem.
You know, Lisa, for the longest time, did not sing.
I mean, I had probably an illusion of being the wife that, you know, I wanted to create a home. I wanted to have children. I wanted him to be a husband. It was never going to be that way. It couldn`t be that way.
Absolutely. I - you know, he was so that much a part of my life that, you know, Elvis, you know, once - once you bonded with him, I mean, there was no - there was no going back. He was just a great guy.
There`s been a big void out there, in terms of where I`ve been and what I am currently working on, I`d like to fill that void now and share my exciting plans for the future.
I lived somebody else`s life. It was never about me, it was really about him on every level.
She would go to Memphis and this was after our divorce. And I would send her to Memphis to be with him.
I have a terrible time giving interviews, it`s so much more a sensitive issue for me because I am so protective of Lisa Marie and of her father.
As a person, he was wonderful. He really was a great person. He was full of life. He had a great sense of humor. Very talented, of course, but very caring to his parents. There was a very endearing quality about Elvis.
I like the creative aspect of developing a project.