Riley Keough Defends Grandma Priscilla Presley After Bitter Family Feud Over Lisa Marie's $35 Million Estate: 'It's Complicated'
Following Lisa Marie’s 2023 death from bowel obstruction linked to years of drug abuse and weight loss medications, Priscilla challenged Riley’s standing as sole trustee of the Presley fortune.
Aug. 8 2023, Published 1:30 p.m. ET
There are no hard feelings between Riley Keough and her grandmother Priscilla Presley following the end of their nasty legal feud, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Keough, 34, opened up about her mother's death for the first time and spoke about the bitter battle with her grandma, defending the 78-year-old matriarch after they fought for control of Lisa Marie Presley's estate following her shocking passing in January.
"When my mom passed, there was a lot of chaos in every aspect of our lives," the Daisy Jones & The Six actress admitted to Vanity Fair in an exclusive interview.
"Everything felt like the carpet had been ripped out and the floor had melted from under us," she explained. "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. We are a family, but there’s also a huge business side of our family."
Addressing the mess with Priscilla, Keough said they are moving forward.
"Things with Grandma will be happy... They've never not been happy," she insisted. "There was a bit of upheaval, but now everything’s going to be how it was."
Lisa Marie died suddenly from a small bowel obstruction on January 12.
Calling her famous grandma, who was married to Elvis Presley until 1973, a "beautiful woman," Lisa Marie's oldest daughter emphasized the "huge" role Priscilla had in "creating my grandfather's legacy and Graceland."
"It’s very important to her. He was the love of her life," Keough said, adding that all her grandma ever wanted was to "love and protect Graceland and the Presley family and the legacy."
As RadarOnline.com reported, Lisa Marie's daughter and mother reached a settlement agreement in June after what was expected to be a lengthy court war over her $35 million estate.
Priscilla filed documents requesting to be named co-trustee of her late daughter's trust after discovering the only beneficiaries of the trust were Keough and her teenage twin sisters, Harper and Finley.
After a bitter back-and-forth, Keough was named sole trustee of Lisa Marie's estate, which includes Graceland and a stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises. As part of the settlement, the actress agreed to give Priscilla $1 million in addition to covering $400k for legal costs.
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But the interview wasn't all about her relationship with her grandmother post-feud. Keough also revealed the name of her daughter, Tupelo Storm Smith-Petersen, whom she welcomed with her husband, Ben Smith-Petersen, via surrogate in 2022.
Tupelo is a nod to Elvis as it's the name of his birthplace. It was also highly featured in a recent biopic.
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"'This is great because it’s not really a well-known word or name in relation to my family—it’s not like Memphis or something,'" she explained of her thought process behind the name. "Then when the Elvis movie came out, it was like, Tupelo this and Tupelo that.
"I was like, 'Oh, no.' But it’s fine."
Keough also disclosed that her daughter's middle name, Storm, is a tribute to her late brother Benjamin, who tragically took his life in 2020.
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