Priscilla Presley has hit back after claims her late ex-husband Elvis Presley "groomed" her after the pair met when she was just 14 years old.
Priscilla was just 14 when she met a then 24-year-old Elvis at a party at the home the singer had rented while serving in the US Army stationed in Germany in September 1959.
Her parents had initially forbade her from seeing him again after she returned home late that night, but relented after the singer promised to never make her late home again, and allowed their friendship to continue until he left Germany in March 1960.
When he returned to the US, Priscilla stayed in touch over the phone but didn't think their romance would continue amid rumors Elvis was dating Nancy Sinatra, but her parents allowed her to visit him for two weeks in 1962 as long as he paid for her first-class round trip and agreed for her to be chaperoned at all times and for her to write home every day.
After another visit at Christmas, her parents allowed her to move to Memphis with Elvis the following year - when she was 17 - under the condition that they would eventually marry.
With recent films having been released about the singer's life and relationship, some people have since questioned how appropriate it was for a young man to strike up a romance with a teenage girl - and Priscilla has had her say.
Following a newly-released movie about her life, Priscilla addressed the criticism about her young age when she first started dating Elvis, claiming it was a "different time" back then.
Speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Priscilla explained: "I mean, you know Elvis was, like I said, he was very unique, but he was, I don't know about grooming me, I didn't take it at that, I never heard the word."
She added that their connection was mostly based on emotion, and stated that they did not have a sexual relationship at the time.
"I understand, but I was 14 in Germany, and there was always people around, and our talks were yes, private, but he never ever, ever, ever was aggressive, nor did he ever make love to me," she revealed. "I was somehow, like I said earlier, someone he trusted to talk to and pour his heart out."
Priscilla revealed that at the start of their relationship, Elvis would love to treat her to new clothes so she would "dress up" for him, which was normal for her at the time.
She explained: "I mean obviously it's all new now, but you know he loved to take me to beautiful stores to buy me an outfit. I didn't have any money."
Elvis would take her to the movies every night which would be an excuse for the pair to get dressed up, and he made sure to buy her plenty of outfits so she would "look good" and "not feel bad" for not having a "suitable" wardrobe for the functions they were attending, having come from humble beginnings himself.
She added that it was normal for women to dress up for their partners at the time, having seen the same in her own family.
"It was a different time, it was the early 60s, the early 60s, and I compare this to my mother. My mother, my father was in the military, my mother would dress up for my father every day, when he came home from work, she was dressed up," she revealed. "That was, and women were that way, we were, not that it was just for our men, but we took care of ourselves and we wanted to be, when I say we, I include myself."
