Priscilla Presley’s Elegant Engagement Ring and Wedding Journey

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Priscilla Presley captivated audiences with her iconic wedding to Elvis Presley on May 1, 1967. In an intimate ceremony held in Las Vegas, Priscilla wore a stunning silk chiffon gown, adorned with a tiara and a three-foot tulle veil.

The love story began during Elvis’s military deployment in West Germany, where he first met Priscilla, then a teenager. Their correspondence continued even after he returned to the U.S. By 1963, when Priscilla turned 18, her parents approved her move to Memphis to live at Elvis’s Graceland estate.

Elvis proposed on Christmas Eve when Priscilla was 20, presenting her with a remarkable 3.5-carat engagement ring featuring 20 detachable baguette-cut diamonds. In her memoir, “Elvis and Me,” Priscilla recalled the proposal as “the most beautiful and romantic moment of my life.”

The couple married after four years of relationship, with Priscilla’s bridal glamour complemented by her unique makeup—a look characterized by thick eyeliner and pale-pink lipstick.

However, the marriage came to an end in 1972 when Elvis filed for divorce. Priscilla shared on a British talk show, “Loose Women,” that she left not out of a lack of love but to discover more about the world around her. She stated, “We still loved each other” after their separation.

The engagement ring has continued to be a topic of interest, with reports stating that Memphis jeweler Harry Levitch sold the ring to Elvis for nearly four thousand dollars in 1966, equivalent to about $39,000 today. After their nuptials, Priscilla rarely wore the ring, which doubled as her wedding band.

Photographic evidence from their wedding shows that both Priscilla and Elvis wore distinctive rings. Elvis’s wedding band featured 24 diamonds set in platinum, while Priscilla’s horseshoe-shaped ring drew inspiration from one regularly worn by Elvis.

In recent years, Priscilla has revealed that she still possesses the engagement ring and hints that she may showcase it in the future. Her story continues to be a significant part of pop culture, capturing the hearts of many fans and historians alike.