Lisa Marie Presley Said Feeling Disposable Contributed to the End of Her Marriage with Michael Jackson

Lisa Marie Presley explained what led to the breakup of her marriage with Michael Jackson.

In 1994 the world was agog at the news that Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of the King of Rock had married Michael Jackson, the King of Pop.

The two shared a childhood lived in the limelight, and an intimate knowledge of the price of fame, but the marriage was to last less than two years.

It would be after his death that Lisa Marie finally felt that she understood the complex and tormented man she had married

AN UNLIKELY MATCH

At first glance, a more unlikely match couldn't be imagined. Lisa Marie was a divorced woman with two children, and Michael was inexperienced, having dated one of two women casually.

The two had met as children when he was one of the Jackson 5, and she was the only daughter of the legendary Elvis Presley. They reconnected in November 1992. Lisa Marie was the married mother of two, and Michael was under a cloud, suspected of molesting children.

On August 1, 1994, an unexpected announcement stunned the music world. Lisa Marie and Michael were married. She wrote in a statement:

“My married name is Mrs. Lisa Marie Presley-Jackson. (...) I am very much in love with Michael, I dedicate my life to being his wife."

Lisa Marie, as she would reveal to Oprah Winfrey a year after his death, had fallen in love with Michael, and divorced Danny Keogh, the father of her two children, Benjamin and Danielle, who were then 2 and 5 years old respectively.

FROM GRACELAND TO NEVERLAND

But Lisa Marie's entry into Michael's strange and unrealistic world was not without incident. Lisa Marie would reveal that Michael was surrounded by people whom she called "vampires" who told him only what he wanted to hear and took advantage of him at every turn.

BETWEEN THE KING OF ROCK AND THE KING OF POP

Lisa Marie, who had witnessed her father's disintegration and his spiral into substance abuse, started to detect the warning signs of disassociation in her new husband. The parallels were inescapable, and Lisa Marie tried to alert Michael to the dangers.

MICHAEL'S WAY OF THE HIGHWAY

Lisa Marie revealed that when he found himself having to choose between his wife, his drug habit, and his coterie of enablers, Michael started withdrawing from her. The message was clear - it was Michael's way or the highway.

Lisa Marie revealed that during her marriage she had tried to get Michael not to spend so much time with the children who visited Neverland, believing that in view of the past accusations against him, he was leaving himself open to more trouble. Again, her warnings were disregarded.

PRESSURE TO HAVE A BABY

Michael started pressuring Lisa Marie to have a baby straight away, but she confesses that she wanted to be sure that the marriage was stable before embarking on a pregnancy. But Michael told her that if she wouldn't give him a child, Debbie Rowe, his dermatologist's assistant, would.

FEELING DISPOSABLE

Lisa Marie would later tell Oprah that she decided to bring the marriage to an end even though she loved Michael because she felt disposable. She wouldn't give him what he wanted when he wanted: a baby, turning a blind eye to his growing drug problem, acceptance of his sycophantic hangers-on. She said:

“I took it very personally, though. I felt I was disposable. You know? And it was the same with my father."

DIVORCE AND RECONCILIATION

The divorce was final in 1996, but Lisa Marie revealed that for the next four years she and Michael spent a lot of time together, talking about the possibility of reconciliation, even though he had already married Debbie Rowe, and she had given him the children he so desired: Prince Michael and Paris.

In an attempt to move on with her life, Lisa Marie put an end to the quasi-romance in 2000, and in 2002 she married actor Nicholas Cage.

Lisa Marie confesses that when she was informed that her ex-husband was dead she had felt "gutted," and blamed herself for her failure to save him.

It would be after his death that Lisa Marie finally felt that she understood the complex and tormented man she had married, and loved so passionately.