Our mum..an icon, role model and superhero
Lisa Marie Presley’s daughter leads tributes at memorial
THOUSANDS of emotional Elvis fans gathered at Graceland as his ex-wife Priscilla led her family in tributes to her daughter Lisa Marie.
The “celebration of life ceremony” was held yesterday on the Memphis mansion’s front lawn followed by a procession to the estate’s Meditation Garden almost two weeks after the King’s only child died aged just 54.
Priscilla, 77, read a poem by one of Lisa Marie’s 14-year-old twin girls.
It told how her mother was “an icon, a role model and a superhero”.
It read: “She always knew she wouldn’t be here too long… some say a broken heart killed her,” referring to Lisa Marie’s son Benjamin’s death by suicide.
Priscilla then added: “Our hearts are broken. Lisa, we all love you.”
Lisa Marie’s eldest daughter Riley Keough had been due to speak but was too overcome with emotion to do so.
Her eulogy was instead read by her husband, Ben Smith-petersen.
Riley wrote: “I remember you driving me in my car seat playing Aretha
Franklin. I remember the feeling I’d get when you picked me up from school. Thank you for showing me that love is the only thing that matters in this world.”
Riley noted that she and her siblings were “products of your heart”.
She added: “Thank you for trying so hard for all of us.” Lisa Marie’s body was on display to the public during the memorial, which was broadcast around the world.
Elvis’s solemn gospel song He Touched Me played while the memorial’s live stream waited to begin, as well as a moving duet by Lisa Marie and her father singing Where No One Stands Alone.
The service included performances by Alanis Morissette, Guns N’ Roses rocker Axl Rose and Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins.
Austin Butler, who played Elvis in the recent movie about his life, and Lisa Marie’s close friend Sarah Ferguson also paid their respects.
The Duchess of York told how she was with Lisa Marie throughout much of her life and vowed to do the same for her children. “We march forward in support of you,” Fergie said.
After the speeches Lisa Marie was laid to rest in the Meditation Garden alongside son Benjamin, her father, her grandparents and her great-grandmother.
Thank you for showing me love is the only thing that matters
RILEY KEOUGH PAYING TRIBUTE TO HER MOTHER