Priscilla Presley’s Memoir Reveals Post-Elvis Love with Robert Kardashian and a Startling Close Call
Priscilla Presley, the enduring icon and former wife of Elvis Presley, is set to captivate readers with her forthcoming memoir, Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis. The 80-year-old’s second book promises an unprecedented look into her life following her 1973 divorce from the King of Rock and Roll, revealing a poignant romance with the late attorney Robert Kardashian and a startling close call with a possessive Elvis.
Among the memoir’s most compelling revelations is a night in 1975, just two years after her highly publicized divorce. Presley recounts being in bed with her then-boyfriend, Robert Kardashian, when an unexpected phone call shattered the quiet of the pre-dawn hours. It was Elvis, calling at 2 a.m. after a performance, completely unaware of Kardashian’s presence.
“It hadn’t crossed [Elvis’] mind that I might have been asleep. It had certainly never occurred to him that I might be with another man,” Presley writes. Despite their legal separation, she notes that Elvis still struggled to accept her moving on. “He’d have gone ballistic, maybe literally, if he’d known Robert was in my bedroom. Elvis always carried a loaded gun, sometimes more than one.”
In a tense moment, Presley, leveraging Kardashian’s deep sleep, “leaped out of bed and grabbed the phone before it woke him.” She tiptoed to a guest bedroom, closing the door to shield her secret, ensuring Kardashian remained oblivious to the dramatic late-night call and to Elvis’s lingering possessiveness. The King himself would never learn of Presley’s relationship with the attorney who would later gain national prominence.
Priscilla Presley and Robert Kardashian’s romance blossomed in 1975, lasting for approximately a year. Presley fondly remembers Kardashian as “a sweet man,” but ultimately, their paths converged. “Robert wanted to get married, but I knew it wouldn’t work. I wasn’t ready to marry again,” she explains in her book, also citing his “demanding” legal career and “long hours” as contributing factors to their separation. Despite their parting, they maintained a friendship, with Presley recalling a final conversation in 2003, organized by his daughter Kim Kardashian, shortly before Robert died at the age of 59 from esophageal cancer.
The memoir also touches upon the profound losses in Presley’s life. She recently described her daughter Lisa Marie Presley’s tragic death in January 2023 at age 54 as “the second saddest day of my life, other than losing Elvis.” The King himself passed away from a heart attack in 1977 at just 42 years old. Priscilla and Elvis shared one daughter, Lisa Marie. Priscilla also has a son, Navarone Garibaldi, 38, with Marco Garibaldi Garcia. Robert Kardashian, after his relationship with Priscilla, married Kris Jenner in 1978 and had four children: Kourtney (46), Kim (44), Khloé (41), and Robert Jr. (38).
Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis promises to be a deeply personal and revealing account from a woman whose life has been inextricably linked to one of music’s biggest legends, offering a candid glimpse into her journey of love, loss, and self-discovery. The highly anticipated book is scheduled for publication on September 23.
