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Priscilla Presley is looking back on her daughter Lisa Marie Presley’s tragic death.

While promoting her upcoming memoir, “Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis,” Priscilla, 80, told People about the decision to take Lisa Marie off life support in January 2023.

“It was the second saddest day of my life, other than losing Elvis,” Priscilla said. “It took a long time to come to terms with the fact that Lisa was gone.”


  Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley at the 14th Annual Americana Music Festival and Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in September 2013. Rick Diamond Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley at the 14th Annual Americana Music Festival and Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in September 2013. Rick Diamond

Lisa Marie was Priscilla and the late Elvis Presley’s only child. The 54-year-old died of a small bowel obstruction that developed after she underwent bariatric surgery years earlier.

Priscilla recalled that Lisa Marie’s ex-husband, Danny Keough, found her unresponsive at home and called Priscilla to come meet them at the hospital.


  Priscilla Presley attends “An Evening with Priscilla Presley” in Las Vegas in November 2024. Getty Images Priscilla Presley attends “An Evening with Priscilla Presley” in Las Vegas in November 2024. Getty Images

  Priscilla Presley and Lisa Marie Presley at the “Elvis ’68 Comeback Special” premiere in 2008 in Hollywood. WireImage Priscilla Presley and Lisa Marie Presley at the “Elvis ’68 Comeback Special” premiere in 2008 in Hollywood. WireImage

“We were there all day long,” Priscilla told People. “Lisa really wasn’t breathing, so she was on the ventilator. For hours we were there waiting, hoping and praying until the doctor came in and said, ‘Priscilla, I’m so sorry, she’s gone.'”

“We just couldn’t believe it — didn’t want to believe it,” the “Naked Gun” actress continued. “It was hard on all of us, it still is.”


  Lisa Marie Presley and Priscilla Presley in LA in June 2022. Steve Cohn/Shutterstock Lisa Marie Presley and Priscilla Presley in LA in June 2022. Steve Cohn/Shutterstock

Priscilla has experienced other tragedies in her famous family. Her grandson, Lisa Marie and Danny’s son Benjamin Keough, died by suicide at age 27 in 2020. Priscilla has also helped her 38-year-old son, Navarone Garibaldi, whom she has with ex Marco Garibaldi, get clean from drug addiction.

“It hasn’t been easy at all. But you have to find strength,” Priscilla told People, adding that Navarone is currently sober and in a “good place.”

Priscilla also shared that she’s found joy being a great-grandmother to granddaughter Riley Keough’s two children that she has with husband Ben Smith-Petersen.


  Elvis and Priscilla Presley with daughter Lisa Marie in February 1968. Bettmann Archive Elvis and Priscilla Presley with daughter Lisa Marie in February 1968. Bettmann Archive

  From left: Riley Keough, Lisa Marie Presley and Priscilla Presley at the “Elvis” premiere in Memphis, Tennessee, in June 2022. Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock From left: Riley Keough, Lisa Marie Presley and Priscilla Presley at the “Elvis” premiere in Memphis, Tennessee, in June 2022. Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock

  Priscilla Presley and her son, Navarone Garibaldi, at Last Chance for Animals’ 40th anniversary gala in LA in October 2024. Variety via Getty Images Priscilla Presley and her son, Navarone Garibaldi, at Last Chance for Animals’ 40th anniversary gala in LA in October 2024. Variety via Getty Images

In People’s excerpt from her memoir, Priscilla recalled that Lisa Marie “was already gone” when she rushed to see her daughter at the hospital.

“She was hooked to a machine that was breathing for her, and she had a heartbeat,” Priscilla recalled. “There was little brain activity. Her spirit, always so vital, wasn’t there. Riley later told us that while she was still on her flight, she had felt her mother’s spirit pass. But none of us was ready to give up yet.”


  Lisa Marie Presley and Priscilla Presley at the Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, in 2006. AFP via Getty Images Lisa Marie Presley and Priscilla Presley at the Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, in 2006. AFP via Getty Images

Priscilla said a nurse convinced her to get something to eat and drink in another room, where her cousin Ivy comforted her. But then, they “heard an emergency alarm” coming from Lisa Marie’s room.

“It was a code blue; Lisa’s heart had stopped,” Priscilla remembered. “As I started back to my daughter, the nurse detained Ivy and spoke to her in a whisper. Nodding toward me, she told Ivy, ‘Come with us. I need you to stand right behind her. She’s going to fall, and you will need to catch her.'”


  Lisa Marie Presley and Priscilla Presley at the annual Black and White Ball fund-raising event in Las Vegas in 2011. WireImage Lisa Marie Presley and Priscilla Presley at the annual Black and White Ball fund-raising event in Las Vegas in 2011. WireImage

  Priscilla and Elvis Presley with daughter Lisa Marie as a baby WireImage Priscilla and Elvis Presley with daughter Lisa Marie as a baby WireImage

Priscilla said after a doctor told her Lisa Marie would have “no quality of life at all” if they kept her on life support, she thought about her “wild, rebellious, passionate girl, lying in a vegetative state for the rest of her life” and made the devastating decision to pull the plug.

“It was unbearable. I began to sob,” Priscilla recalled. “I don’t remember falling. I know that Ivy caught me. After that, everything went dark. I can’t remember. I don’t want to remember.”


  Lisa Marie Presley and Priscilla Presley attend the American Society of Young Musicians’ awards in 2005 in Hollywood. Getty Images Lisa Marie Presley and Priscilla Presley attend the American Society of Young Musicians’ awards in 2005 in Hollywood. Getty Images

Last month, Priscilla’s former business partners filed a lawsuit accusing her of pulling Lisa Marie’s life support to “control” her daughter’s trust and Graceland. They’re suing Priscilla for breach of contract and fraud and are seeking $50 million.

In response, Priscilla’s lawyer, Marty Singer, slammed the filing as “one of the most shameful, ridiculous, salacious, and meritless” lawsuits he had ever seen.

“Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis” comes out Sept. 23.

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