Priscilla Presley Madly in Love with Latin Elvis

Priscilla Presley Madly in Love with Latin Elvis
National Enquirer, September 1, 1981

Glamorous Priscilla Presley has fallen madly in love with a world-famous Spanish singer - who's known as the Latin Elvis.

And she has confessed to friends that dashing Julio Iglesias - a handsome 36-year-old multimillionaire whose worldwide record sales top a phenomenal 70 million - is the first man since Presley himself to bring true love into her life.

"He is everything a woman could want – just like Elvis was," an excited Priscilla, 36, recently told a close pal.

The friend said beautiful Priscilla, who co-hosted TV’s just-canceled series "Those Amazing Animals," breathlessly added: "He's the most fascinating person I've been involved with since I first fell in love with Elvis. I didn't want to fall in love with Julio - but I did!"

The surprise romance took root when the two met in Chile last February - and it grew like a blossoming flower as they dined and danced their way across South America.

And Priscilla recently spent a cozy, secluded week alone with Iglesias at his palatial island estate near Miami, Fla.

Said her friend: "There's no doubt that it's a love affair - she told me she calls him her Spanish prince and loves him the way she loved Elvis."

Iglesias, a superstar in many countries but not in the U.S., has publicly confessed he and Priscilla are in love - and he talks candidly about their love affair in his just-released autobiography "Between Heaven and Hell."

"The romance is there," Iglesias writes. "She means much to me ... who can hold back what is written on the wind?"

One of Europe's top gossip columnists, Emmanuel Schwartzenberger of the Paris newspaper France Soir, told The ENQUIRER:

"There is no doubt that the two of them are head over heels in love. Iglesias himself told me they are lovers."

The Madrid-born Iglesias was a top soccer star before a traffic accident ended his career. He launched a new career as a singer in 1968 and quickly hit it big.

Although he's never recorded in English, Iglesias has a home in Miami and records for an American company, CBS Records International. The suave, sexy singer's first meeting with Priscilla came one evening when she journeyed to Chile to appear on a TV show he was hosting.

"I liked her right away. I drew her close to me and kissed her on the cheek which was firm and warm," he writes in his book. "The night was beautiful and precious. I found her fascinating."

Iglesias had seen Priscilla before on TV - but that night, he says he saw her for the first time without, envisioning the "ghost" of Presley hovering in the background.

"I saw her the way I should have seen her, without the ghost dressed in sequins and the electric guitar - Elvis, may he rest in peace. I saw her as Priscilla . . ."

Iglesias says that in the "beautiful and tiring" days that followed they went riding and shared romantic meals.

And finally, the singer reveals, he won Priscilla's heart.

After leaving Chile, Priscilla and Julio took off to Montevideo, Uruguay, and then to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the annual carnival there. They “wined, dined and danced” the days away according to another of Priscilla’s friends in Memphis. When Priscilla visited Memphis, she was “bubbling over,” the friend said.

"She told me, 'I've finally met the one man who can replace Elvis! Julio is everything that Elvis was…romantic, vibrant and exciting. I’ve fallen in love with him.

“'I feel so special when I’m with him. He’s a magnificent man. I haven’t felt so safe and secure, so totally in love since the days when Elvis and I were in love.’

Iglesias revealed his love for Priscilla to Eli Halfoun, a newspaper columnist in Rio de Janeiro, when he returned to the city in April to cut a record. Halfoun recalled:

“Julio told me: ‘I’ve fallen in love with Priscilla. She makes me feel like a man as no other woman ever has.

“'I doubt if any woman will ever make me feel like Priscilla has made me feel.’”

Noted Halfoun: “You have to realize what that means with Julio. His charm is overwhelming and he attracts lovely women like honey attracts ants.” But since he’s found Priscilla, said Halfoun, “he just isn’t interested in them anymore.”

Priscilla recently turned up at Iglesias' posh estate at Indian Greek Village, an island near Miami – and she spent a whole week.

"She came alone, very quietly, and stayed for a week with Iglesias," a regular visitor to the island revealed.

French journalist Patrick Henry, of France-Dimanche magazine, visited Iglesias' home during Priscilla's stay. He recalled:

"She was very uninhibited. She flung her arms around him, nuzzled up to his neck, kissed him and generally behaved like a loving girlfriend. There is no doubt they are lovers."

Since she met Iglesias, Priscilla has put her longtime romance with actor-model Mike Edwards on the back burner, say insiders.

Now she's showering Iglesias with flowers and gifts - and he's responding with presents and roses. "It is a very serious romance - although their work schedules on both sides of the Atlantic prevent them from being together constantly," said French show biz writer Jean Ves Rogel. "Julio told me he constantly longs for their next meeting."