Riley Keough is “disappointed” at her grandmother Priscilla Presley for challenging Lisa Marie’s will less than a week after Lisa Marie’s funeral, saying it goes against “her mom’s wishes.”
Keough’s mom, Lisa Marie Presley, the sole child of late “King of Rock and Roll” Elvis Presley and his wife Priscilla, died at age 54 on 12 January of cardiac arrest, two days after her red-carpet appearance at the 80th Golden Globe Awards.
A source told Entertainment Tonight that “Riley wants to keep the family together and keep Lisa Marie’s legacy in a positive light, but she feels that her grandmother’s actions are pushing the family apart even more.”
“It’s upsetting to her as she does want to have a relationship with Priscilla, but at this point in time they are not close,” the source added.
As for Lisa Marie, she “did not have a healthy or close relationship” with Priscilla prior to her death, according to the source, adding that things were “very complicated” between them.
“Lisa Marie was struggling, and it definitely put a strain on her relationship with her mother. Lisa Marie always felt Priscilla was trying to have control over her.”
Following Lisa Marie’s death, her representative confirmed that Graceland, her estate which once belonged to her father, would go to her three daughters — 33-year-old Riley and 14-year-old twins Harper and Finley.
In the court filing, Priscilla claims she and Lisa Marie’s former business manager Barry Siegel were first named co-trustees on 29 January 1993, when Lisa Marie “executed a revocable living trust, which she amended and completely restated on 27 January 2010.” But Priscilla says she found a new amendment dated 11 March 2016, with Priscilla and Siegel now struck off and replaced by granddaughter Riley and grandson Benjamin Keough.
Benjamin died by suicide in 2020, leaving Riley as sole trustee.
Priscilla is challenging the will on grounds that Lisa Marie’s signature “appears inconsistent with her usual and customary signature,” even arguing that her name had been spelled wrong.
She also claims the document was never notarized and had not been delivered to her during Lisa Marie’s lifetime, as laid out in the terms of the 2010 trust arrangement.
Joel Weinshanker, a managing partner at Elvis Presley Enterprises, spoke out in favor of Riley, maintaining her trustee role in the wake of Lisa Marie’s death.
But in a statement for Entertainment Tonight, Priscilla retorted: “I loved Elvis very much as he loved me. Lisa is a result of our love. For anyone to think anything differently would be a travesty of the family legacy and would be disrespectful of what Elvis left behind in his life.”
“There is an individual that bought their way into the family enterprise that is trying to speak on behalf of our family. This person is not a representative of Elvis or our family,” she added, without identifying the concerned individual.
“Please allow us the time we need to work together and sort this out. Please ignore ‘the noise.’ As I have always been there for Elvis’ legacy, our family and the fans, I will continue to forge a pathway forward with respect, honesty, dignity, integrity and love.”