Priscilla Presley only told her mother she was getting married a day before her wedding day.
The 69-year-old actress and her former husband, late rock icon Elvis Presley, were determined to keep their big day private so tried to keep things as secret as possible until they tied the knot in 1967.
She said: "He proposed to me before Christmas in 1966 but when news got out we cancelled it because we wanted our wedding to be a personal celebration, not a fanfare or circus.
"Then we were going to do it the following March, but Elvis was in a movie and finally the date was set for 1 May.
"Everything was shrouded in secrecy – we didn’t even tell my mother and brother until the day before the wedding."
The couple were so good at keeping things hidden, their daughter Lisa Marie, now 46, didn’t realise they had divorced in 1973 until some years later.
Priscilla added to HELLO! magazine: "Elvis was a good dad. He was lenient and I was the strict one – I had to be because he was often touring so when he was with her, he didn’t want to discipline her.
"She was nine when he died, but I think she had a good understanding of what her father was like.
"Even when we divorced, she would see a lot of her father and we were always speaking on the phone. I would take her to the concerts and every opening, we continued our relationship.
"He was touring a lot, but when he was back we would go to his house and hang out. My daughter told me she didn’t know we were divorced, which was the greatest compliment."
Priscilla Presley’s late marriage announcement
