I’m always amazed how the fascination with Elvis lives on… and on… and on. Imagine shelling out thousands of dollar for his divorce papers! Here in Oahu and over on Maui he is very popular I noticed. Ashley Reich posted the story; “Elvis Presley Divorce Papers Auctioned For Nearly $9,000,” first posted on 12/13/11 and updated 12/14/11.

The settlement sounds so quaint by today’s standards for divorcing celebrities: Priscilla was given a used 1971 Mercedes Benz, a ’69 Cadillac El Dorado and a ’71 Harley-Davidson motorcycle in addition to $100,000 in cash and half the income from the sale of their three houses in California.

Reich reports that the Presley 1972 settlement documents were sold by Heritage Auctions Tuesday for $8,963 to an undisclosed buyer. Someone who I know who is an attorney who also specializes in family law, DUI plus criminal defense in both Bellevue, Washington and Seattle told me about this. May folks lose their property, here in Hawaii it os ften such things as Oahu Real estate as well as Maui real estate overall.

Allin all, he (Reich) does quote the Heritage Auction’s director of music and entertainment departments, Margaret Barrett, as saying, “They give us an insight into their divorce. They were a very famous married couple; he was the biggest rock and roll star ever at the time and probably still is, and you can see what was happening as their marriage was coming to an end. What Priscilla wanted, what she got, the money she was asking for which now seems like nothing for our standards today. But at the time she was really asking for a lot of money. He was a wealthy man. Someone I know lost Maui real estate that was worth a lot too.

“…..She got a lot of property, she got a lot of the cars. She kind of took him to the cleaners. But that happens with these (particular types of divorce cases), they are always (somewhat) contentious.”
Reich also notes that the divorce was not finalized until October 1973. She writes that reportedly Priscilla collected $1.7 million in the final settlement. My friend lost some Oahu and Maui real estate in a divorce.

For her part, I think Priscilla deserved every cent for putting up with Elvis, a notoriously self-absorbed and self-indulgent man. It seems, however that he did love Priscilla and their daughter and was inclined to do his best for them on the whole, from what I have read about him overall.