Lisa Marie Presley was so devastated by the loss of her son, Benjamin Keough, that she kept his body in her home for two months after he passed away. She even invited a tattoo artist to see him so she could get matching tattoos.
This is just one of many surprising details in Lisa Marie’s new memoir, From Here to the Great Unknown, which was completed by her daughter, actress Riley Keough, after Lisa Marie passed away in January 2023.
Lisa Marie (left) next to her beloved son Ben, along with her third husband, Michael Lockwood, and a guest, at the London premiere of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” in November 2010.
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In her book, Lisa Marie shared that she had to fight to stay alive for her other children, Riley and her twin daughters Harper and Finley, who are now 16. She didn’t say goodbye to Benjamin right away because she was torn between burying him in Hawaii or at Graceland, the Memphis estate where Elvis, her father, is buried.
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Lisa Marie kept the room at 55 degrees to preserve Benjamin’s body and got so used to caring for him and having him there.
Riley and Lisa Marie decided to honor Benjamin by getting tattoos like his. Benjamin had his sister’s name on his collarbone and his mom’s name on his hand. Riley had her brother’s name tattooed on her collarbone, and a tattoo artist was called to Lisa Marie’s home to add Benjamin’s name to her hand. When the artist asked if they had photos of Benjamin’s tattoos to match the font and placement, Lisa Marie said, “No, but I can show you.”
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Riley writes: “Lisa Marie Presley had just asked this poor man to look at her dead son, who was right next to us in the guest house. I’ve had a very strange life, but this moment is one of the weirdest.”
Lisa Marie also knew it was strange. She said, “I think it would scare the heck out of anyone else to have their son there like that. But not me.”
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Soon after the tattoo day, Riley remembers that everyone felt like Benjamin wanted to be laid to rest.
Even Lisa Marie said she could feel him communicating with her, saying, “This is crazy, Mom, what are you doing? What the heck!”
The family held a funeral for Benjamin in Malibu, and New Age author Deepak Chopra led the ceremony. Riley said she had to keep her eyes closed the whole time because she was struggling to cope with everything.
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Benjamin was buried at Graceland, next to Elvis, and Lisa Marie would later be buried there too.
Riley writes a lot about her brother’s struggles with mental health and how he often went on drinking binges. She doesn’t believe he truly wanted to die.
After his death, she and her mom went through his phone, looking for answers.
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Riley writes, “We found a text he sent to my mom a couple of weeks before he died that said, ‘I think something’s wrong with me mentally. I think I have a mental health issue.’ It’s heartbreaking to me that he only realized he might need help just two weeks before he took his own life.”
Queen Camilla’s ‘secret’ role to help Kate Middleton, revealed
When Kate Middleton underwent a planned abdominal surgery in mid-January, everyone hoped she heals well. However, things didn’t seem right when she was nowhere to be seen, with the Palace assuring the general public that the Princess was doing well.
Soon after, speculations and rumors started circulating around, and they only intensified after Kate posted a photo posing with her three children on the patio on Mother’s Day. The reason why, as we all know already, was that the photo was manipulated. This was quickly noticed by photoshop experts, but the truth is, one doesn’t need to be an expert to see that someone had edited the image before publishing.
Later, Kate posted on her social media that she was the one who edited the photo and while people praised her for confessing the truth, they slammed the Palace for not defending her.
On Friday, Kate put a stop to the rumors when she decided to address the public via a video in which she spoke of her health and revealed that after her abdominal surgery doctors ran tests that revealed the presence of cancer.
“My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment,” Kate video detailed. “This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.”
The Princess further detailed that it had taken her time to recover from the surgery and “to explain everything” to her children George, Charlotte and Louis.
“As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louie in a way that’s appropriate for them and to reassure them that I’m going to be okay. As I said to them, I am well, and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal. In my mind, body and spirits. Having William by my side is a great source of comfort.”
She didn’t reveal the specific type of cancer she’s battling.
In the video, she asks for privacy during this difficult time for her and her family.
The Princess of Wales continued, “Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too. As is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. It means so much to us both. We hope that you will understand that, as a family, we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment. My work has always brought me a deep sense of joy, and I look forward to being back when I am able — but for now, I must focus on making a full recovery.”
“At this time, I am also thinking of all those whose lives have been affected by cancer. For everyone facing this disease, in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope,” she concluded. “You are not alone.”
During Kate and Charles’ absence, it is their spouses who stepped in and took upon themselves to carry out royal duties.
Royal expert Angela Levin appeared on GB News, saying that Queen Camilla is “holding the royal family up.”
“I mean, to wait till you’re 73 is a long time before you can take the crown. I think obviously, at his age, it’s very difficult, but he’s very determined, and he’s only really just started to be king,” Levin said. “Supporting him very much, absolutely by his side, is Queen Camilla, who is going to all the engagements that they would have gone to together on her own.”
“And so that way he will feel it’s still moving, it’s still running, and they can discuss it and talk about it. And I think that’s marvelous. I mean, she is holding the Royal Family up and being strong. If you imagine 30 years ago, people were saying the whole Royal Family would absolutely disintegrate, and she would be of no use.”
Besides having revealed that she doesn’t want to be under the spotlight, Camilla is doing an excellent job and is very “accessible.”
“To support her husband. She understands him very well because they’ve been together for over 50 years, before they even got married. it’s a long time and they make each other laugh,” Angela Levin added. “They have the same sense of humor, they understand each other, and if you see them when they’re out, they move together. It’s very tandem.”
Today, it’s safe to say that Camilla is a much-appreciated member of the family, but both she and Kate once went through a media scrutiny.
For Kate, it was back in the day when her and William’s relationship went public, with the medial labeling as “Lazy Kate,” and “Waity Katie.”
Sadly, she once again experienced that scrutiny following the Mother’s Day picture incident.
In an interview with Today, The Telegraph’s associate editor, Camilla Tominey, claimed that the queen “has been trying to help [Catherine] through the media storm aspect in all of this.”
Tominey said, “I think before [Catherine] made the announcement because she was having to cope with the fallout of everything that was said about the Mother’s Day photo and everything else, I think Camilla lent some support.”
“Because let’s be honest, [Camilla] knows what it’s like to have a difficult press. She knows what it’s like to shepherd children through a media storm,” she added.
When Camilla’s affair with Charles was exposed, she was one of the most hated women in the country. At one point, she was even afraid to leave her house because she endured “torrents” of mistreatment from the public.
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