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Elvis Presley died suddenly at home in Graceland on August 16, 1977, with his fiancée Ginger Alden in the next room.
After a succession of girlfriends before, during and after his marriage to Priscilla, Ginger was the first one he proposed to.
She has beautifully described their time together, denouncing the popular image of a sad and declining idol, including their very last conversation just hours before he died.
The King had proposed to her on January 26, 1977, with a spectaculatr huge diamond ring.
When no stone big enough could be found fast enough, he had the eleven and a half carat diamond removed from his own TCB ring.
The King’s fiancée, who wrote about their time together in her book Elvis and Ginger, said: “On the day he proposed, he said: ‘Ginger, I’ve been searching for love so long, and never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would find it in my own backyard. I’ve been 60% happy and 40% happy, but never 100%. I’ve loved before but I’ve never been in love. Ginger, I’m asking you, will you marry me?’
“Elvis brought his hand out from around his back. In it was a small, green velvet box. Nearly overcome by emotion, my voice quavered. ‘Yes,’ I managed.
“Our relationship had been so intense, as if he wanted me to know almost everything about him in a short time. I felt I’d found my soulmate. My hand was shaking as we kissed and stepped out of the bathroom into the bedroom. My hand was still trembling as he kept lifting it to look at the ring saying, ‘oh boy.’”
Throughout that year, Elvis battled with health and weight issues, exacerbated by the huge cocktail of drugs he took every day.
Ginger has previously described how she battled to encourage a healthier lifestyle and in her new post, Ginger described the toxic culture surrounding the star and how nobody ever knew how much she tried to help him.
Ginger said today on her Facebook page: “I loved him deeply, knew he felt the same, took care of him, pampered and tried to understand him as complex as I learned he could be… Through my challenging him at necessary times behind closed doors, something unbeknownst to others, I always felt pride as I came to see there had been some “yes” people in a life taken far too soon.
Ginger added: “Our nine months God gave us together seemed to equal that of a few years as I jumped onto what felt like a fast moving train with Elvis teaching and confiding as he shared his thoughts and feelings, wanting me to “catch up” and become a part of his amazing life.
“He was older, I was young, but I would not have changed our age difference for the world.”
But it was Ginger who would find The King dead in his bathroom, just hours after they had had an emotional conversation about their exciting plans for a future that would never happen.
Ginger said: “(We were) sitting in his daughter Lisa Marie’s bedroom in the early hours of August 16th when Elvis began discussing wedding plans and setting a date with me.”
“Elvis was looking forward to many things, marriage, more children, serious films and his next tour.
“He was in a good mood, we had just set a wedding date literally hours earlier and 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.
“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.”
GINGER ALDEN FACEBOOK PAGE
