As Priscilla writes in “Elvis and Me,” she and her ex-husband made a great effort to put a brave face on the separation in front of Lisa Marie, and through displays of affection and being sure not to argue, they attempted to portray to the child that everything was normal between her parents. Lisa Marie would regularly visit her father in Graceland and Los Angeles, where her mother also lived after the divorce, but according to Priscilla, Elvis’ party lifestyle meant that he was ill-equipped for responsible solo parenting. Priscilla claims that at one point she received a call from an assistant who admitted that Lisa Marie was not in bed even at 1 a.m. and that she refused to be bathed. The incident gives the impression that he spoiled her and let her have free rein wherever she was visiting him at the time. “To hell with values,” Elvis reportedly joked in a conversation with his ex-wife.
Lisa Marie elaborated further in a YouTube video: “There was no schedule, there was no time at Graceland, no rules,” she said, “… It was quite the lively home.” Elvis was also the only person who could get her to take a bath, “I wouldn’t argue with him, ever,” she said.
However, Lisa Marie has loving memories of her father’s unusual parently style. “He’d always wake me up to sing in the middle of the night, get on the table and sing,” she said in 2009, according to ABC News. “I remember him as my dad, but he was a very exciting dad.”
