Video: 'Elvis & Priscilla - Always on my mind'
(Tuesday, October 9, 1973) — Rock ‘n’ roll icon Elvis Presley, 38, and his wife, Priscilla, finally ended their marriage with a friendly kiss today after Santa Monica Superior Court approval of a modified property settlement in which he will pay her nearly $1.5 million.
In a private session, Judge Laurence Rittenband granted Presley’s petition for divorce and the pair emerged arm in arm. The singer kissed Priscilla, 28, before he drove away.
“This man agreed to pay her this without any contest,” said Harry Fain, one of Presley’s attorneys, “because he wanted to be generous and make her happy. I never met a man so unselfish.”
Under the new pact, replacing an initial agreement to which Priscilla subsequently objected, Presley added $725,000 in cash and another $720,000 payable at $6,000 a month to discharge any further claims on community property.
Originally, Fain said, the pair agreed that he would give her “and a couple of cars.”
Also, Presley agreed that she shall have half the proceeds from the sale of a Los Angeles home as well as five percent of the stock in Elvis Presley Music, Inc., and White Haven Music, Inc.
She will also receive support payments for a. year and $4,000 a month for the support, and education of their 5-year-old daughter, Lisa, until the child becomes of age or marries.
The couple agreed to joint legal custody of the daughter, who will live with her mother.
Elvis and Priscilla (whose maiden name Beaulieus) met in November 1959 when he was 24 years old and she was 14 years old.
They married in Las Vegas May 1, 1967 and welcomed their first and only child together, a daughter named Lisa Marie Presley, nine months later on February 1, 1968. The couple separated on February 24, 1972, and filed for legal separation on July 26, 1972.
After today’s divorce, they shared custody of Lisa Marie until Elvis’ death on Aug. 16, 1977, at the age of 42.
Priscilla Presley filed a motion last May 29 to set aside her initial concurrence in the property settlement entered when he filed for dissolution of their five-year marriage in August 1972.
Until the modified agreement, she had sought to discover more about the extent of the singer’s holdings particularly music copyrights, master recordings, residuals and royalties.
When he filed for divorce, Presley cited irreconcilable differences because of the pressure of his constant traveling.
