It’s clear that Priscilla Presley loves her late husband and reminiscing about Elvis, the King of Rock and Roll. “He had the best laugh,” smiles the actress, author and businesswoman.
Thinking back to their life together at Graceland, she recalls: “He just had a great sense of humour and [was] fun to be with.”
In this personal chat with HELLO!, Priscilla, who recently released a memoir about her life, reflects on their six-year marriage and 18-year friendship and how they remained close even after their divorce in 1973.
“My granddaughter Riley and I are very close. She’s just a wonderful mother”
Priscilla, who starred in the eighties TV series Dallas and the Naked Gun franchise, tells us: “We always remained friendly and would still get together.”
“Of course, we had our daughter [Lisa Marie, who died on 12 January 2023, aged 54], and I would bring her to see her dad perform and made sure they spent a lot of time together. She’d spent extensive time with him at Graceland. We still cared for each other.”
© Bettmann ArchiveStrong family bonds
Family is paramount to Priscilla, 80, who also has a 38-year-old son, Navarone Garibaldi, and is a grandmother to Lisa Marie’s children: the actress Riley Keough, 36, and 17-year-old twins Finley and Harper.
She’s also a great-grandmother to Riley’s two children, three-year-old Tupelo and a baby born in 2025.
© Getty ImagesShe has lived through unspeakable tragedy in the past few years, losing Lisa Marie in 2023 and her grandson – Lisa Marie’s son – Benjamin in 2020. She has a particularly strong bond with Lisa Marie’s daughter Riley.
“My granddaughter Riley and I are very close. She’s just a wonderful mother,” says Priscilla of the actress, who stars in Daisy Jones & The Six. “It’s wonderful seeing your grandchild grow up, and she’s been so successful. We’re all very close, all of us in the family.”
Priscilla’s memoir
Priscilla spent much of 2025 touring the world talking to audiences about her memoir, Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis. She explains that writing it was an emotional experience.
© Bettmann Archive“It took me a while to finish it up – more than 11 months,” she admits. “You remember a lot of things, and it was a good thing to be honest. A lot of remembering wonderful times and difficult times, and you’re reliving your life.”
Priscilla says of her book tour shows: “I love doing it, talking about all this, sharing, and of course answering all their questions. I get some good questions!” One person asked if Elvis ever wore a toupee. Priscilla says: “No, that’s not true; that was his beautiful hair.”
© Priscilla PresleyNew year plans
Priscilla’s plans for 2026 involve “probably still going out touring with my show”, which has taken her all over the world. “It’s been great. I’ve been to London, Bristol, Edinburgh, Dublin, Paris, New York, Christchurch, Auckland, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.”
Elvis would have celebrated his 91st birthday on 8 January, and Priscilla ponders how he might have been in his nineties. She says: “I think he’d be doing the same thing in life – singing and touring. He loved it.”
Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis by Priscilla Presley is out now, published by Headline, priced £2
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