What Elvis Presley would have named his son with Priscilla Presley | Music | Entertainment
Elvis Presley casually proposed to Priscilla Presley (Beaulieu, at the time) on Christmas Eve in 1966. Five months later, on May 1, 1967, they flew out in the dead of night on Frank Sinatra’s private jet to hold an intimate ceremony at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas surrounded by their closest family and friends.
Nine months later to the day, on February 1, 1968, Lisa Marie Presley was born.
Elvis and Priscilla were utterly besotted by Lisa Marie. The King of Rock and Roll even named his private jet after her as a sign of affection.
Priscilla confessed she was “ecstatic” by her daughter’s birth, noting that looking after the infant gave her further purpose in life while Elvis was away working.
But she also revealed in the August 1973 edition of Ladies Home Journal that she and Elvis had discussed the possibility of having a boy.
Priscilla said: “If the baby had been a boy, we were going to name him John Barron.”
Priscilla simply explained that both she and Elvis chose Barron because they “liked the name”. “It has a very strong feeling to it.”
When their child was ultimately a girl, they chose Lisa Marie instead. She revealed: “For no special reason, only because it is a very feminine name. [Lisa Marie] definitely has her father’s eyes. But she has my features and petiteness.”
She was also quick to dispel rumours about her history of pregnancy. Priscilla confirmed: “You know, the movie magazines have had me having about five miscarriages; I have never had a miscarriage.”
Lisa Marie’s arrival could not have come at a better time for Priscilla. Just days after returning to Elvis’ home, Graceland, after their two-month honeymoon in Palm Springs, California, the King jetted off to shoot a new movie, leaving her behind.
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Priscilla solemnly remembered: “For Elvis to come home from a trip and leave again was routine. At first, I wanted to go along and it was difficult for me to understand why I couldn’t. Sure I was disappointed, but I got over it. The times that Elvis couldn’t make an anniversary became a way of life. I may have been hurt, but it’s an adjustment that you make as a wife.”
To combat the loneliness of being a new wife at home alone, she started working on her hobbies. She achieved her green belt in karate, before dropping out and returning to her childhood passion: ballet.
She gushed: “I had studied ballet years before with a woman named Maylee Kaplan. I enrolled again in her dance company; I stayed for about three-and-a-half years. I danced and worked out every day and did a couple of recitals with them. Elvis didn’t mind, so long as I was happy.”
But when Lisa Marie was born, everything changed. Priscilla’s focus shifted entirely. And before long, she started making friends with other women who had children of their own.
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Priscilla wrote in Ladies Home Journal: “When the baby got a little older – she’s five now – I started going out more with other women whose husbands were in Elvis’ group; we’d go to the park, go shopping, or go out for lunch.”
There were downsides to this, however. From then on, everywhere Elvis and Priscilla went, his entourage and their partners joined them as well.
“For instance, our stay in Hawaii was supposed to be a cosy family vacation,” Priscilla said. “Elvis had finished filming Blue Hawaii, and he wanted to show me the islands. So we rented a bungalow with a private beach. But with an entourage of twelve people (each guy and his wife), how intimate can you become?”
She confirmed she became “resentful” about the situation, but could do nothing but accept it.
Eventually, this resentment permeated Elvis and Priscilla’s relationship, and they split up four years later in 1972. A year later, their divorce was finalised on October 9, 1973.
Priscilla and Elvis were still on good terms, however. Dolly Parton later revealed there was a lot of love between them in their final divorce meeting.
She wrote in her memoir: “Priscilla told me years later that [I Will Always Love You] was the song he sang to her when they were leaving the divorce courtroom. So that touched me even more.”
