michaellisamarie.jpgLisa Marie Presley told Oprah: "I didn't understand my relationship with him" in a taped interview set to air tomorrow.

The 42-year-old said she understand why the media and the public speculated about the validity of their marriage: "I understand that nobody really knew who I was. They just assumed I was going along with something he would be doing ... I understand him better now. The manipulation was a survival tactic for him."

And just what was Michael trying to "survive?" Lisa Marie said drugs were becoming an issue toward the end of their two-year marriage ('94 - '96). Presley says Jackson tried to keep his drug use a secret but just before Jackson filed for divorce, she says, "There was just an occasion, an incident where he had collapsed and he was in the hospital ... Every day there was a different report. And I couldn't tell what was happening. I couldn't really get a straight answer about what was happening with him and I think we were all a little bit in the dark." Doctors said it was a viral infection but Presley claims otherwise.

Before their divorce in 1996, Presley says, Jackson was pushing her away in favor of drugs. She wondered aloud to Oprah, whether she could have save Micheal's life: "I know it's naive to think that I could have, but I wanted to. Had I made a call, had I stopped being so shut off from him, had I Just said, 'How are you?' I really regret that I didn't."