Priscilla Presley Voices Her Intentions After Contesting Late Daughter Lisa Marie's Will
On January 12th, 2023, tragedy struck the Presley family after Lisa Marie suddenly passed away due to cardiac arrest, per Today. Priscilla Presley was the one to confirm her daughter's death in an emotional statement. She wrote, "It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us. She was the most passionate strong and loving woman I have ever known."
Just a little over a week after Lisa Marie's passing, the Presley family gathered at Graceland to pay their respects to their beloved daughter, mother, and friend, per TMZ. Priscilla and other family members and friends delivered speeches at the emotional ceremony. During the funeral, the Presley family appeared to be leaning on one another during this difficult period as they grieved Lisa Marie. However, in the days to follow, the situation took another painful turn.
Being the only child of the famed musician Elvis Presley and having a musical career herself, Lisa Marie had left behind a valuable estate. According to The Blast, court documents from 2010 revealed that Lisa Marie had chosen her mother, Priscilla, and her business manager, Barry Siegel, as trustees of the estate. However, following the songwriter's passing, Priscilla discovered a new document dated 2016 unveiling that Lisa Marie may have changed who she wanted her estate to be passed down to.
Priscilla tries to keep Presley family together after contesting will
Priscilla Presley was surprised to discover a 2016 document naming Riley and Benjamin Keough, as new trustees to her daughter, Lisa Marie's, estate. Benjamin sadly passed away, thus the estate would supposedly belong to Riley. According to TMZ, the papers were an amendment to the 2010 document, which named Priscilla and Barry Siegel. However, Priscilla is taking this to court.
TMZ reports Priscilla filed court papers to have a judge dismiss the 2016 amendment. Priscilla claims the amendment seemed suspicious, including the writing and signature of Lisa Marie. In addition, she alleged Lisa Marie never delivered the new conditions to her, which she says was part of the 2010 contract. Although Riley has not commented on her grandmother's actions, it's sure to have caused tension between the two. A source even told Page Six, Priscilla's intentions are not sincere. They said, "It's strictly a money grab. She [Lisa Marie] had no relationship with Priscilla..."
Regardless, Priscilla believes she's putting her family's best interests first. Priscilla shared with Page Six, "Today would have been Lisa's 55th birthday. My wish is to protect my three grandchildren and keep our family together." Priscilla shared how she's supported her two children throughout her life. She said, "From the first moment I held Lisa in my arms, I've protected, loved, and guided her, as I have my son. Our hearts are broken, and I am having to learn to live without my only daughter."
Lisa Marie Presley's friends have spoken out
Additional details about what Lisa Marie Presley supposedly wanted to happen following her death have been revealed since Priscilla Presley spoke out, with the managing partner at Elvis Presley Enterprises, Joel Weinshanker, opening up about the plans Lisa Marie made before her passing. Weinshanker appeared on Sirius XM's "Elvis Radio" on February 1 to discuss the late star, and doubled down on the fact that Lisa Marie wanted daughter Riley Keough (and son Benjamin Keough, before his tragic death) to inherit Graceland (via People). Weinshanker claimed to have discussed the matter with Lisa Marie more than once and said her decision always came down to her two eldest children.
"There was never a question in her mind that they would be the stewards, that they would look at it the exact same way that she did. And obviously when Ben passed, it really sat with Riley," he shared, adding that Riley has been aware for a while she would be left in charge of Graceland.
An unnamed friend of Lisa Marie's shared a similar take with People a few days earlier. "Lisa lived her life authentically... She wouldn't remain quiet when she was being taken advantage of," they said. "At the end of the day, these are her wishes, and there's no question as to what her wishes were. No one's going to be able to reinvent the last seven or eight years and say no, no, no."
Elvis left Graceland to Lisa Marie Presley
Graceland's official website confirmed that, following Elvis Presley's death and the deaths of Elvis' parents, Lisa Marie solely inherited Graceland. However, Elvis had stipulated in his will that Graceland wouldn't be legally become hers until her 21st birthday, so it was left in a trust for her until that point. After she finally inherited it, Lisa Marie set up her own trust after the previous one automatically dissolved, titled The Elvis Presley Trust.
But while there's been a difficult turn of events regarding Lisa Marie's will, Riley Keough seems to be more focused on remembering her mom. Riley has posted several tributes to her on Instagram, including sharing a sweet photo of the two of them on January 24 which she revealed showed the last time they met before her death. "I feel blessed to have a photo of the last time I saw my beautiful mama. Grateful @georgieflores took this," she wrote alongside the photo. That came a few days after the actor shared a throwback black-and-white photo on Instagram showing as a child with her mom. Keough captioned the image with a simple red heart emoji.