Priscilla Presley didn’t hide her doubts when it came to her late daughter, Lisa Marie’s, marriage to Michael Jackson.
During an interview with the Australian radio show, JAM Nation with Jonesy & Amanda, the 80-year-old said she barely spoke to Jackson during the two years he and Lisa Marie were married.
“I pretty much said two sentences to Michael,” Priscilla recalled, explaining that her worries were rooted in his attraction to fame. “He loved people in the business. He loved actors, he loved people that were famous. I was very concerned because my daughter was famous and the daughter of the most famous man, really, in rock and roll.”
Lisa Marie and Jackson tied the knot in 1994, just weeks after she finalized her divorce from musician Danny Keough, with whom she shared daughter Riley and son Benjamin.
Their marriage ended in 1996, but not before raising eyebrows and making headlines worldwide.
Priscilla admitted that she had made her disapproval clear, but eventually stepped aside because it was clear her daughter was in love. “She knew I wasn’t for it. But I had to back off,” she said.
She also spoke about Jackson’s distinctive speaking voice, which had long been rumored to be "different" in public vs. private.
“He always had that high voice with me,” she noted. “I did hear a different voice when he was at home talking to someone who worked for him. I don’t think he ever wanted to lose that little boy in him.”
Looking back, Priscilla linked Lisa Marie’s struggles in later years to the death of her son Benjamin in 2020. Lisa Marie died three years later at the age of 54. “That was my biggest fear because I knew she adored him so much,” Priscilla said. “When he passed, a bit of her passed.”
Priscilla has described Benjamin’s loss as shattering, calling it “devastating” and among the darkest times her family has endured.