Elvis’ Granddaughter Riley Keough Wasn’t Sure She Should Talk About Spending the Night at Graceland
Decades after Elvis Presley’s death, his granddaughter Riley Keough has become a celebrity in her own right. While she has established herself as an actor in projects like Daisy Jones & The Six, she still has a deep connection to Elvis’ legacy. Keough is now the sole custodian of Graceland, Elvis’ home. She spoke about the time she spent there as a child, even though she wasn’t sure if she should.
Elvis’ granddaughter Riley Keough spent the night at Graceland as a child
Though Keough was born over a decade after Elvis’ death, Graceland was a part of her childhood. It remained in the family and opened to the public as a museum in 1982, five years after Elvis’ death.
“There were a few times that we slept there,” Keough told Vanity Fair, “but I don’t know if I should say that.”
The mansion’s second floor is closed to the public out of respect for the musician, who died in this area of the house. Keough’s hesitation likely has to do with the fact that she has stayed in an area that most people will never access. Despite her trepidation, she shared fond memories from the home.
“The tours would start in the morning, and we would hide upstairs until they were over,” she explained. “The security would bring us breakfast. It’s actually such a great memory. We would order sausage and biscuits, and hide until the tourists finished.”
Elvis’ granddaughter Riley Keough shared why she has sad memories of Graceland
Keough’s grandmother is Priscilla Presley, Elvis’ first wife. They divorced long before Elvis’ death, and some of the musician’s fans have questioned whether she should be buried at Graceland. Keough has no such questions.
“I don’t know why she wouldn’t be buried at Graceland,” she said. “I don’t understand what the drama in the news was about. Yeah. If she wants to be, of course. Sharing Graceland with the world was her idea from the start.”
Because many people are buried at Graceland, visiting is always bittersweet for Keough. In the meditation garden, Elvis, his parents, Keough’s mother, Lisa Marie Presley, and her brother Benjamin are buried.
“I always had positive and beautiful memories and association with Graceland,” she said. “Now, a lot of my family’s buried there, so it’s a place of great sadness at this point in my life.”
She spoke about how Priscilla Presley has protected her family’s legacy
While Keough believes Priscilla Presley should be buried at Graceland if she wants, they recently squabbled over who would control the Elvis Presley estate and Graceland.
“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,” she said. “We are a family, but there’s also a huge business side of our family. So I think that there was clarity that needed to be had.”
Still, Keough said she does not hold onto negative feelings toward her grandmother. She is grateful for Priscilla’s work to preserve the family’s legacy.
“There was a bit of upheaval, but now everything’s going to be how it was,” she said. “She’s a beautiful woman, and she was a huge part of creating my grandfather’s legacy and Graceland. It’s very important to her. He was the love of her life. Anything that would suggest otherwise in the press makes me sad because, at the end of the day, all she wants is to love and protect Graceland and the Presley family and the legacy. That’s her whole life. So it’s a big responsibility she has tried to take on. None of that stuff has really ever been a part of our relationship prior. She’s just been my grandma.”
