As 1973 began, it came to a sad end when Elvis and Priscilla finalised their divorce in Santa Monica, California, in the courtroom of Judge Laurence J. Rittenband. The two held hands in court, and as they left arm in arm before going their separate ways, Elvis sang the Dolly Parton song “I Will Always Love You”.
The two of them did remain close and shared joint custody of Lisa Marie, who was very much “Daddy’s Girl”. When Priscilla learnt of Elvis’s death, she wrote in her memoir, “I wanted to die”. She has expressed a wish to be buried alongside Elvis at Graceland.
On October 15, 1973, Elvis had a two-week stay in Baptist Memorial Hospital, suffering from jaundice, a distended abdomen and was discovered to be a glaucoma sufferer. A downward spiral had begun.
Elvis and Priscilla at the wedding of George Klein, for whom Elvis was best man, December 5, 1970.
