There are few celebrity relationships that have been analyzed (and scrutinized) as much as Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s. The couple first met in West Germany in 1959, when Elvis—who had been part of the Cold War draft and stationed in Bad Nauheim at the time—was 24; he was introduced to Priscilla, the teenage stepdaughter of a captain in the air force, at a party. The pair kept in touch over the years, and in 1962, she convinced her parents to visit—and eventually live with—Elvis at his estate Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. The pair became engaged just shy of Priscilla’s 21st birthday on Christmas Eve in 1966. When the King of Rock and Roll got down on one knee, he did so with his signature Elvis flair: He popped the question with a massive engagement ring complete with a three-and-a-half carat center stone and 20 removable diamonds.
The couple, whose relationship had been kept out of the public eye, opted for a clandestine wedding (which they successfully kept from the press) in May 1967 at the Aladdin Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Their nuptials may have been secret and quick (the ceremony was just eight minutes long and held at 9 a.m.), but they were also lavish and expensive: The couple reportedly cut into a $3,200, six-tier wedding cake (that’s the equivalent of $22,000 today) after feasting on a breakfast buffet that included oysters Rockefeller, lobster, and Southern-fried chicken, reports Country Living. Following the wedding and a short press conference, which revealed the pair’s relationship and newly minted marriage to the world, the newlyweds honeymooned in Palm Springs.
Elvis and Priscilla’s iconic wedding photos—the bride opted for a flowing chiffon gown with beaded sleeves, a short veil, a tiara, and big hair and frosty pink lips for the occasion—marked one of the only times the bride’s engagement ring was on display for the public. She rarely wore it over the duration of the couple’s six-year marriage, which was dissolved in 1972, five years before the icon’s death in 1977. According to the couple’s divorce settlement, Elvis signed over a slew of his most famous cars and motorcycles, property income from the couple’s three estates, and $100,000, reports People. What the divorce documents don’t mention, however, is Priscilla’s engagement ring.
The businesswoman cleared up the mystery in 2014 with a Q&A-style status update. “Q. Do you still have your wedding ring? Would be lovely to see the design. A. Yes I do. Maybe one day. 🙂,” Priscilla wrote on Facebook. Though she didn’t specify where the diamond is currently, it’s clearly still in her care and part of her own personal collection. What’s unclear, however, is who will inherit the bauble when Priscilla, who is now 79, passes away, since her and Elvis’ only daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, died at home in January 2023. After a period of mourning and a months-long dispute, Elvis’ estate (formerly in Lisa Marie’s possession) passed into the hands of actress Riley Keough, the legend’s only granddaughter—and, as of now, the estate’s only trustee, reports Vulture. It’s most likely that she will also inherit her grandmother’s engagement ring (and the rest of her possessions) when the time comes.