Meet Elvis Presley’s last love Ginger Alden: the only person the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll proposed to apart from Priscilla, the former beauty queen was just 20 when she found him dead
Their short love story is nevertheless complicated – it was always going to be, when one half of the couple was world-famous. But from the young beauty queen’s perspective, she had found her soulmate and the man she wanted to spend her life with.
Here’s their love story, hiccups and all …
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A bad start
But Presley’s inner circle – known as the “Memphis Mafia” – reportedly didn’t approve of Alden. According to reports, she did not bond with the crew as much as Thompson had. After Presley’s death, his uncle Vester explained to the press that the family was “not interested in her” because “she took advantage of Elvis’ name”.
He even went as far as to say: “Ginger Alden is dead now as far as the family is concerned. We don’t even recognise her as a human being.”
Despite the reservations of those around him, Presley proposed to Alden after just a two months of dating, according to Newsweek. Alden was the first girlfriend he had proposed to besides Priscilla, who he had married (and later divorced).
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The proposal
Per The DeSoto Times Tribune, the massive ring Presley proposed with had a diamond that came from his US$30,000 TCB (“Taking Care of Business”) stage ring at its centre. The couple apparently set the wedding for December 25, 1977.
Alden described the proposal in her book Elvis and Ginger, saying he had told her he had been “searching for love so long, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would find it in my own backyard”.
She said he was holding the ring behind his back in a green velvet box and she answered “yes”. Alden described their relationship as “intense” and said she thought she had found her “soulmate”.
A rocky ride
Despite the firm commitment from Presley’s side, those close to him reportedly remained sceptical that Alden was the one he was going to marry, with Presley’s father Vernon telling Good Housekeeping the year after his son’s death that when he’d asked Presley when he was planning to wed Alden, The King had replied, “only God knows”. Whatever the truth, the pair never married because Presley died unexpectedly of heart failure on August 16, 1977.
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The memoir
In her autobiography, Elvis and Ginger, Alden gave insight into the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s reckless and often violent behaviour. She said he had hit her once and later apologised. According to British media, she also said he had fired a gun at a television set and “threw a dish of ice cream he was devouring when she decided to talk about calories and being fat”.
Elvis Presley’s final days
This day had begun with excitement and hope for Elvis and me, but ended in heartache and disbelief. At the age of 42, my fiancé, Elvis Aaron Presley, was dead
It was Alden who discovered the musician dead in his bathroom. Although the picture painted of that day by many since has been one of a musician who was so out of control that he had suffered an undignified death alone and on the toilet, Alden counters that nothing could have been further from the truth.
According to British media, she said he was excited about the future and, in the hours before his death, discussed some of his plans with her – to get back into shape and go on his next tour.
“He told me a couple of weeks before he passed that he had been off too long. He was ready to go back on stage, something he loved with all of his being,” she reportedly said.
She said he was excited and wanted to be back on stage. She added that he was determined that a renewal for himself and his image was about to begin … only for him to die just hours later.
SOURCES
- Ginger Alden first met Elvis Presley on a tour of Graceland – he proposed to her just 2 months after they started dating with a diamond from his famous TCB show ring
- But Presley’s family weren’t fans, and after his death, his uncle said that Alden was ‘dead’ to them and that they didn’t ‘even recognise her as a human being’
