Inside Priscilla Presley's Relationship With Marco Garibaldi

Most of Priscilla Presley's life has been on display, seemingly for public consumption. When she was just 14 years old, she met Elvis Presley, one of the most famous people in the world. By the time she was in her early 20s, Priscilla was married to Elvis, and from then on, every detail of her life, particularly her relationships, was of interest to someone. Priscilla's relationship with Elvis was especially intriguing to the public. From the ages they were when they met and their lavish lifestyle to the end of their marriage, people wanted to know about the extremely famous couple.

Since his death in 1977, Priscilla has been forthcoming about her relationship with Elvis, including publishing her memoir, "Elvis and Me," in 1985 and opening up about their sex life in a press conference at the 2023 Venice Film Festival ahead of the film "Priscilla." "I never had sex with him. He was very kind, very soft, very loving, but he also respected the fact I was only 14 years old. We were more in-line in thought, and that was our relationship," she said, as reported by People.

One aspect of Priscilla's life hasn't been quite so public, however — her relationship with Marco Garibaldi. The two were in a romantic relationship for over two decades and share a little-known son, but not much else is revealed about their time together. Here's a look inside Priscilla Presley's relationship with Marco Garibaldi.

Priscilla Presley and Marco Garibaldi met in 1983 through a mutual friend. They seemingly hit it off, because not long after meeting, Garibaldi moved into Priscilla's home in Beverly Hills. At the time they met, Priscilla had begun pursuing an acting career in earnest, and she had a role in the hit TV series "Dallas." The home that the two lived in was a sprawling eight-bedroom estate with a pool and tennis court built in 1951. Priscilla had purchased the property in the 1970s after her divorce from Elvis Presley. "We were very, very close, and I wanted to make sure his house was near to our daughter, Lisa Marie [Presley]," Priscilla told Closer of her real-estate purchase.

While the house had a piano and plenty of space for inhabitants to play music intimately, Priscilla reportedly didn't listen to her ex-husband's music in her home while Garibaldi lived there. "I think my dad had a bit of a complex about it," Navarone Garcia said in an interview with People. "It wasn't until after he left that my mom started playing his music again freely," he added. Priscilla was certainly a fan of her ex-husband's music. In an interview with Larry King on CNN, the actor shared that "Can't Help Falling in Love," "In the Ghetto," and "Suspicious Minds" were among her favorite songs by Elvis.

Elvis Presley died in 1977, well before Priscilla Presley met Marco Garibaldi. Just a couple of years after Elvis' death, his father, Vernon Presley, the executor of Elvis' estate, died, leaving Priscilla and Joseph A. Hanks, their accountant, in charge of the Graceland estate that Priscilla and Elvis' daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, was named to inherit. "I worried about my daughter's future and about Graceland and the people who had worked for us for 20 years ... The question I kept asking myself over and over was, 'What are we ever going to do?'" Priscilla said to The L.A. Times about the predicament. What Priscilla did was turn Graceland into a money-making machine.

Priscilla had some help in this venture. As noted, Hanks was involved in the rehabilitation of Elvis' estate, but Garibaldi had a hand in making money for the estate, too. Though his exact role isn't widely publicized, Garibaldi has long been credited for helping develop merchandising for Graceland. Whatever Garibaldi implemented proved to be profitable for the estate — by 1989, Elvis Presley's Graceland was worth $75 million. In 2022, Elvis' estate earned $110 million, with merchandise sales responsible for much of that total amount. Perhaps it was Garibaldi's entrepreneurial spirit that made him such an asset to the Elvis estate. Garibaldi has had many different professional ventures in his life, including starting Godfather Entertainment, the production company responsible for films such as "Across the Hall" with Brittany Murphy.

In 2006, after more than 20 years together, Marco Garibaldi and Priscilla Presley split up. The former couple has been very tight-lipped about their relationship since its end, and it's unlikely either party will ever share details about their decades-long relationship in the future. When they began dating, Priscilla reportedly made Garibaldi sign a document vowing never to write a book about her. Priscilla has shared, though, why she never married Garibaldi. "To be honest with you, I never wanted to marry after [Elvis Presley]. I never had any desire. No one could ever match him," Priscilla said at an event in Las Vegas in 2023, as reported by Blast.

Priscilla continued dating after separating from Garibaldi. Shortly after their breakup, Priscilla reportedly began dating Nigel Lythgoe, a producer behind "So You Think You Can Dance" and "American Idol." After Lythgoe, for a short period, Priscilla was involved with Richie Palmer, a restauranteur and actor who, despite having had roles in films like "Malevolence" and "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps," is best known for his relationship with former model Raquel Welch. Us Weekly claimed that Priscilla also had a relationship with actor and radio DJ Toby Anstis, but both have denied any romantic connection. In keeping with his behavior while he was dating Priscilla, Garibaldi has never publicly shared whether he entered another relationship after he and Priscilla broke up, nor whether he had any more children.