Priscilla Presley: Bring Up Elvis'
Daughter
Ladies' Home Journal, June 1974
By Mary Fiore
Despite an almost two-million-dollar divorce settlement from her
former husband Elvis Presley, Priscilla Beaulieu Presley is a California working
mother who is determined to raise their six-year-old daughter Lisa so that her
two little feet are planted firmly on the ground.
"I want Lisa to have
as normal a childhood as possible," Priscilla says, "but she won't if everything
is just heaped on her without her having to exert any effort. She is Elvis
Presley's daughter--nothing can change that--but neither Elvis nor I want her to
take advantage of anyone or anything because of her name.
"All fathers
tend to spoil their daughters--and Elvis is no exception. By comparison, I'm the
disciplinarian--but I don't mind. We both want Lisa to have the best, but there
is a limit; there's got to be. When one of Lisa's baby teeth fell out here, the
tooth fairy left her 50 cents. Another tooth fell out when she was with her
father in Las Vegas, and that tooth fairy left her $5. When I told Elvis
that 50 cents would be more in line, he laughed. He knew I was not criticizing
him; how would Elvis Presley know the going rate for a tooth?
"Lisa
adores her daddy and has a great respect for him. When she sees him on TV, she's
so proud. I try to take her to Las Vegas whenever Elvis performs
there."
Lisa's constant companion (along with her school chums) is
Snoopy, a huge Great Dane. Says Priscilla: "They understand each other
completely. Some adults have trouble with Snoopy, but Lisa just gives a command
and Snoopy 'heels' in a hurry. Lisa loves animals--Elvis has three cats and Lisa
plays with them when she visits her father. My daughter is a sensitive, loving
child, and we have very good times together."
Happily for all concerned,
Priscilla and Elvis are still friends. Their split was so amicable that outside
the Los Angeles Courthouse where they were divorced on October 11, 1973, Elvis
kissed his ex-wife goodbye.
Today, Priscilla remains fiercely loyal to
Elvis, whom she met in Germany when she was 14, married in 1967, when she was
21, and divorced at 28. If you ask her a question the answer to which could be
interpreted as a betrayal of Elvis, she focuses her blue-green eyes on you and
asks, "Why do you want to know that?"
She has also remained
friends with Elvis' father, Vernon Presley, and his wife, Dee. "Lisa is their
only grandchild and they love her so much," Priscilla says. "I would never do
anything to upset this relationship--and Dee and Vernon wouldn't,
either."
Priscilla's parents, Ann and Lt. Col. Joseph P. Beaulieu, live
in New Jersey, but visit often. Priscilla's brother, Jeff, 14--she has four
brothers and one sister--is Lisa's favorite.
"They enjoy each other,"
Priscilla says. "When Jeff had to have braces on his teeth, Lisa wanted braces
so she could be like Jeff. She was so funny that she made Jeff feel better--he
wasn't that crazy about having to wear braces."
When Priscilla
first moved out of Elvis' Beverly Hills home in August, 1972, she rented a
two-bedroom apartment near the Pacific Ocean. In June, 1973, she moved into a
three-bedroom apartment in the same building. The apartment, charmingly chock
full of the antiques she loves, is a far cry from the homes she shared with
Elvis: the $400,000 California house or his fabulous Memphis estate, "Graceland." But Priscilla couldn't care less. "Trappings don't mean much to
her," says a friend. "She's one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood--inside
and out."
Priscilla has one in help, a woman on whom she knows she can
depend. "I have to have someone marvelous like her because I work," she
says.
"Work" is a boutique named Bis & Beau (Bis for Olivia Bis, the
designer; Beau for Priscilla's maiden name, Beaulieu.) Olivia and Priscilla met
when she saw some of Olivia's designs in a shop window.
When Priscilla's
marriage ended and she wanted something of her own to do, she decided to
bankroll a boutique to sell Olivia's designs, Priscilla's ideas that Olivia
could turn into outfits, and fashion accessories. The shop, at 9650 Santa Monica
Boulevard in Beverly Hills, has been a very successful venture.
The third
ingredient in Priscilla's life is boyfriend Mike Stone--a karate instructor.
Does she think she'll remarry soon? "Oh, I don't know...I don't think so," she
says. "But even if I do remarry, I don't think I will have another child. I
don't feel it would be fair to Lisa if her brother or sister had a father in the
house and Lisa didn't. And I don't think it would be fair to the other children
if Elvis