Riley Keough Shares What Growing Up A Presley Was Like & Her Life After Lisa Marie Presley's Death

Aug 10, 2023

Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of suicide that may be troubling for some readers.

Riley Keough suffered a huge loss when her mom, Lisa Marie Presley, passed away on Jan. 12, 2023. News broke in July that the late singer died from small bowel obstruction linked to weight loss surgery she had several years ago. Lisa Marie was buried at Graceland’s Meditation Garden beside her son, Benjamin Keough, who died when he was 27 in 2020, her dad Elvis Presley, his parents, Vernon Presley and Gladys Presley, and his grandmother Minnie Mae Presley. 

“We had dinner,” Riley recalled the last time she saw Lisa Marie. The mother-daughter duo was at the party thrown to celebrate Elvis’s biopic one day after Austin Butler won a Golden Globe for his performance as the Rock n’ Roll king in the production.

“That was the last time I saw her,” Riley continued. “I remember thinking about how beautiful she looked, and that was my strongest memory of the dinner.” 

Lisa Marie was hospitalized the next day and died at age 54. 

“When my mom passed, there was a lot of chaos in every aspect of our lives. Everything felt like the carpet had been ripped out and the floor had melted from under us,” Riley told Vanity Fair. “Everyone was in a bit of a panic to understand how we move forward, and it just took a minute to understand the details of the situation, because it’s complicated.”

On Aug. 8, 2023, Riley’s interview with Vanity Fair, in which she described what it was like to grow up as Elvis Presley’s granddaughter, was published. The interview, which was meant for the magazine’s September issue, also contained Riley’s revelations about how she felt after Lisa Marie died and she inherited her estate.

When Riley’s brother, Benjamin, died after being found with a gunshot wound in his upper torso, believed to be self-inflicted, the actress felt like she lost a part of herself. She described her bond with Ben as that of twins and kept his memory alive on the anniversaries of his passing. 

“When I lost my brother, there was no road map whatsoever, and it was a lot of big emotions that I didn’t know what to do with,” she told Vanity Fair. “When I lost my mom, I was familiar with the process a little bit more, and I found working to be really helpful.”

Lisa Marie was the only child of Elvis, so she inherited his estate, famously called Graceland, upon his death. For many years, Riley would visit the Memphis estate with her mom, brother, and sisters for Thanksgiving. Although they usually stayed at their official hotel, Lisa Marie would take her kids over to Graceland, where they would hang out and drive golf carts around once the tourists had cleared out of the grounds.

“When Elvis’s chefs were alive, they used to still cook dinner for us, which was really special,” Riley told the outlet. “It was very Southern: greens and fried catfish and fried chicken and hush puppies. Cornbread and beans. Banana pudding.”

Experiencing this managed to put some stability to the actress’ volatile childhood. Riley split her time living with her famous mom and less privileged dad, Danny Keough, in Hawaii.

“My whole childhood was probably very extreme,” she told Vanity Fair.

“I grew up very privileged with my mother,” she told The Guardian and added: “But my dad didn’t live like that. And I think experiencing both sides has been helpful.”

After Lisa Marie died in Jan., her mom, Priscilla Presley, filed a petition to dispute an amendment made to Lisa Marie’s will in 2016 that removed her as co-trustee. The content stated that Riley and Benjamin be sole trustees over Graceland. 

Priscilla aimed to contest the “authenticity and validity" of a 2016 will amendment naming Riley as a co-trustee. Priscilla felt blindsided by the amendment, which she said she was not privy to before her daughter’s death as required by law. She also claimed there were several issues with the amended documents. Eventually, she and Riley allegedly stopped speaking and only communicated through their attorneys. 

After much back and forth between lawyers, Priscilla and Riley reached an agreement in which Riley decided to file to become the sole trustee of her late mom's famous estate Graceland.

Eventually, Riley settled with her grandmother, and a judge declared her the sole trustee of the estate. Meanwhile, Priscilla would reportedly be paid $1 million and $400,000 in legal fees. Thankfully, Riley was not sour toward Priscilla despite their legal battle.

“Things with Grandma will be happy,” she told Vanity Fair in an interview published on Aug. 8, 2003. “They’ve never not been happy … There was a bit of upheaval, but now everything’s going to be how it was. She’s a beautiful woman, and she was a huge part of creating my grandfather’s legacy and Graceland.”

“It’s very important to her. He was the love of her life,” Riley added. "Anything that would suggest otherwise in the press makes me sad because, at the end of the day, all she wants is to love and protect Graceland and the Presley family and the legacy. That’s her whole life.”

What do you think of Riley’s words about her grandmother? What do you think of Lisa Marie’s legacy? Let us know — and be sure to pass this on to friends and family. 

If you or anybody you know is struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, please visit Find A Helpline | Free emotional support in 130+ countries to find your local suicide prevention hotline. The hotline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.