Priscilla Presley’s Ex Denies Lisa Marie Presley’s Molestation Claim in Memoir

Lisa Marie Presley’s posthumous memoir details some of the late singer’s most traumatic moments, one of which is sexual abuse. In the book, titled From Here to the Great Unknown, the only child of icon Elvis Presley details disturbing allegations about her mother Priscilla Presley’s ex-boyfriend, Michael Edwards, who began dating Priscilla when Lisa was 9 years old. She says Edwards molested her. 

Lisa Marie claims that Edwards molested her when she was 10 years old. He dated her mother for about seven years. Edwards is also in the industry and has starred in movies like The Terminator. 

In the book, she details the first time he allegedly ever touched her inappropriately, explaining that she “woke up to find him on his knees next to my bed, running his finger up my leg under the sheets, and if I moved, he stopped—so I moved.”

Another alleged instance happened when she was 10. “He said he was going to teach me what was going to happen when I got older,” she wrote. “He was putting his hand on my chest and saying a man’s going to touch here, there, he put his hand between my legs, and he said they’re going to touch you here. I think he gently kissed me and then left that night.” 

Lisa Marie said she told her mother what happened, and after a fit of rage which included retreating to her bedroom and slamming the door, she returned and said Edwards wanted to apologize to her daughter. “‘I’m so sorry, but in Europe that’s how they teach the kids so that’s what I was doing,’” she claims he told her. She says he later continued to touch her, and also spank her. 

But Edwards, now 80, is denying Lisa Marie’s allegations. He told Page Six that no one from the publisher called him for comment on the matter, noting of Lisa Marie’s claim: “I’m in shock, that’s untrue…I was like a father to Lisa Marie.”

Edwards released his own memoir in 1988 titled Priscilla, Elvis and Me. He detailed living with 9-year-old Lisa Marie and later wrote of the inappropriate feelings he developed for Lisa as she grew older.

He detailed an afternoon in the pool with Lisa Marie, explaining that she wrapped her legs around him as he bounced her up and down. “I became aroused,” he writes. “A sick feeling crept slowly into the pit of my stomach. I was craving Lisa sexually.”

He explained that his feelings for Lisa Marie is what ended his relationship with her mother. “Priscilla’s fears had been justified all along,” he writes. “My love for Lisa always bordered on intimacy. As Lisa grew to a young woman it was a constant battle for me to keep my feelings in the proper perspective. “When Lisa threw her arms around me in a daughterly way and said, using one of her many pet names for me, ‘Merky, I love you. You’re so cute,’ I melted. She unknowingly exuded the same power of sexual charisma that her father had wielded over millions.”

It’s not the first time Lisa Marie spoke of her experience with him and it being inappropriate. She told Playboy in 2003: “He’s a sick f–k. He made his attempts at coming into my room and being inappropriate while drunk.” Her memoir is the first time she ever mentions any molestation claims.