L
isa Marie Presley remem-
bers running wild at Grace-
land. She ate dessert for
breakfast, stayed up late
and raced around in her
own golf cart. “I was awful,”
admits Elvis Presley’s only child. “There was
no schedule with my father. No rules.”
Despite her close relationship with Elvis,
who died when she was 9, Lisa Marie, 51, has
rarely shared her memories. That’s about to
change. She recently sold her first memoir
to Gallery Books, which reportedly paid be-
tween $3 million and $4 million for the rights.
“Lisa Marie loved her dad,” says an insider.
“This is her time to finally open up about him.”
ALWAYS ON MY MIND
After Priscilla Presley and Elvis divorced
in 1973, Lisa Marie began spending week-
ends at Graceland. “[Elvis] was a very ex-
citing dad,” she recalls of the music icon,
who dressed her in fur coats and jew-
els and f lew her to Colorado to play in the
snow. “He’d always wake me up to sing in
the middle of the night,” she remembers.
“Graceland was like this
fun house that no matter
what you did, no matter
what you broke...it would
somehow miraculously
get replaced within 24
hours. It was quite the
lively home.”
And it was nothing
like life with Priscilla.
“My mom made me go
to school, do my home-
work. I hated it,” says Lisa Marie, whosere-
bellious streak grew worse after Elvisdiedin
19 77. “Dad was always my friend, andI want-
ed Mom to be my friend, too. Now I realizeI
needed someone to say, ‘No!’ ”
In her book, the four-time divorcéealso
promises to disclose secrets from hermar-
riage to Michael Jackson who, likeElvis,
existed in an isolated bubble. “Yougetinto
this world where nothing you do iswrong,”
she says. “[My father] was one of thefirst
ones to go through it. It was verylonely
there. I know that.” —Louise A.Barile,
with reporting by Rick Egusquiza
THEKING’SDAUGHTER
SHARESMEMORIES
OFGROWINGUP AT
GRACELANDWITHHER
LEGENDARY DAD
MY DAD WAS
LISA MARIE PRESLEY
My Best
Friend
“He was
very
adoring.
I knew
that I was
love d.”
— Lisa Marie, on Elvis
Elvis with
Priscilla and
Lisa Marie
in 1970
50 August 26, 2019 CLOSER
