January 18, 1996
Web posted at: 6:45 p.m. EST (2345 GMT)
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- "Just think -- nobody thought this would last," Michael Jackson had said on his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley. Turns out that everybody was right after all.
Barely 20 months after the self-proclaimed king of pop and the only child of American rock 'n' roll legend Elvis Presley took their wedding vows, the marriage is over.
Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce Thursday, citing irreconcilable differences, said her publicist, Paul Bloch. Her attorney, John Coale, said she had filed in Los Angeles.
A publicist for Jackson said he knew nothing about it.
The Associated Press cites legal papers stating the couple separated December 10.
The May 1994 wedding between Presley and Jackson in the Dominican Republic was shrouded in secrecy, and the parties denied that they had married for nearly two months. It was the second marriage for Presley, 27, and the first for the 37-year-old Jackson.
At the time, many speculated that the wedding was a just a masquerade, a ploy to prop up Jackson's public image, which had taken a battering after a 13-year-old boy alleged that the pop star had sexually molested him. Jackson later reached a multimillion dollar out-of-court settlement with the boy. No charges were ever filed.
Last June, both Presley and Jackson appeared on ABC's Primetime Live and declared that they were deeply in love, and were trying to have a child.
"Do we have sex?" Presley asked during the interview. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" they replied.
They were questioned about rumors that their marriage was a publicity stunt designed to give Jackson legitimacy.
"Like we're faking this?" Jackson said.
His wife added, "How can you fake this 24 hours a day -- sleeping with somebody, waking up with somebody? I'm not going to marry somebody for any reason other than the fact that I fall in love with them."
Presley's first marriage, to musician Danny Keough, ended in divorce after six years. They have two children.
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