Priscilla Presley Reveals She Was So Nervous About Elvis Being Alone She’d ‘Go With Him to Get His Teeth Cleaned’

Priscilla Presley is opening up about her unusual and special life with Elvis Presley. The actress, 76, shared some of the highs and lows of her marriage to the King of Rock and Roll in a new interview with PEOPLE, saying that the constant attention thrown his way proved a unique challenge for her as his wife. Marrying in 1967, Priscilla said there was more than just the average newlywed growing pains in their relationship.

“My God, I had to learn everything,” Priscilla said. “Women gravitated to him, so I would be nervous when he had to go places alone. I would even go with him to get his teeth cleaned! I always had an eye on him because everyone in the world was after him.” Elvis’ notorious temper was also on full display throughout their marriage: “If he saw somebody he didn’t like on the TV, he’d get his gun out and blow it up. Then he would tell his daddy to go get another TV.”

Priscilla and Elvis first met in the late 1950s when she was only 14 and he was in his mid-20s, already a star around the world. At the time, Priscilla said she knew immediately she “had to keep him,” adding, “I wanted to go places with him. I would cry if I couldn’t be around him.” The two would marry in May 1967 when she was 21 and he was 32, welcoming daughter Lisa Marie in February 1968.

“I was always ready to greet him at the door and pamper him,” said Priscilla of her life as Elvis’ wife. “I loved taking care of Elvis very much. I loved tending to him. I loved feeding him. We would baby talk, because you have to have your own language when you have that many people around. It was a good life. It was different, but it was ours.”

The two would divorce in 1973 after six years of marriage, and while those years were a bit of a rollercoaster, Priscilla has a new perspective looking back. “I truly cherish the great times. As you grow up, there are always fears and insecurities,” she explained. “But as you get older you understand it all.”