Lisa Marie Presley: Sarah, Duchess of York pays tribute to star, as she speaks about Queen at memorial
Sarah, Duchess of York has paid tribute to Lisa Marie Presley at a memorial to celebrate her life, calling her Sissie and sharing an anecdote about her late mother-in-law, the Queen.
The duchess was one of many paying tribute to the star on the front lawn at Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tennessee on Sunday.
For years the sprawling estate has been the destination for those paying tribute to Elvis, but following her death on 12 January aged 54, the iconic home has become the venue for those saying a final farewell to his daughter.
Elvis Presley in concert in 1972
Lisa Marie suffered a cardiac arrest at her home in Calabasas, California, dying aged 54.
Two days before her death, she had appeared with her mother, Priscilla Presley, at the Golden Globes.
As well as family and friends, members of the public were invited to attend the service, which was also livestreamed.
‘Before Blue Ivy, there was Lisa Marie’
The event kicked off with a powerful rendition of Amazing Grace performed by Jason Clark and The Tennessee Mass Choir, dressed in black, flanked by a photo of Lisa Marie.
Filmmaker Joel Weinshanker began the service, saying he hoped they could honour Lisa Marie’s wishes “not to be sad”, and was followed to the lectern by Pastor Dwayne Hunt who paid tribute to her “passion, strength, brilliance and tenaciousness”.
In his tribute, former mayor of Memphis, AC Wharton, listed many famous celebrity parents, including Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, and Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, he went on: “Before Jay-Z and Beyonce had Blue Ivy, and long before Prince Harry and Meghan had Archie, right here, in this city, our own royal couple, Elvis and Priscilla, had a beautiful bundle of joy, named Lisa Marie…
“Fifty-four years ago there was a star shining over Graceland with the birth of this precious angel.” He said she was inseparably a part of Memphis, calling her “a precious jewel”, and a “sister” to everyone who lived there.
As the only daughter of the King of Rock and Roll, he described her as “the conduit to the throne” and “the keeper of the flame”.
He concluded: “Lisa Marie was all Memphis. She belonged to us and we belonged to her.”
Tributes left at Graceland ahead of the memorial
Royal friends
Sarah, Duchess of York, then took to the stand, speaking about the Queen in her tribute and offering her support to the late singer’s children.
She said: “We need to stoke our flames within to celebrate extraordinary Lisa Marie. I stand here with great honour, because we called each other Sissie. I’ve been here with you all for all your lives and I stand here with great honour. So Sissie, this is for you with affection.”
She went on to tell an anecdote about the Queen, saying: “My late mother-in-law used to say ‘That nothing can be said, can begin to take away the anguish and the pain of these moments because grief is the price we pay for love’, and how right she was.”
Lisa Marie (L) and Priscilla Presley at the Hollywood Walk Of Fame last summer
‘Our heart is broken’
A tearful Priscilla Presley then read out a poem written by her granddaughter about her mother’s loss, titled The Old Soul. She finished her reading, saying: “Our heart is broken Lisa, we all love you”.
Lisa Marie’s agent, Jerry Schilling, described her as “the only person who could intimidate Jerry Lee Lewis”. He went on: “I was in the hospital with her father when Priscilla was giving birth, I was at the hospital with her mother when she left us. Memphis, I will always love you.”
Rock singer Axl Rose said he was “still in shock” about Lisa Marie’s death, adding, “I feel like I should be texting her right now and telling her how wonderful everyone is”. He went on to perform November Rain on the piano.
Other musical performances included Billy Corgan performing To Sheila by The Smashing Pumpkins, Alanis Morissette singing an emotional rendition of her song Rest and the Blackwood Brothers Quartet singing How Great Thou Art and Sweet Sweet Spirit, both of which were previously performed by Elvis.
Elvis with wife Priscilla and daughter Lisa Marie in 1968
Riley’s tribute to her mum, and first mention of her daughter
Actor and stuntman Ben Smith-Petersen, the husband of Lisa Marie’s daughter Riley, read an emotional tribute, written by Riley and titled To My Momma.
Part of the letter read: “I hope I can love my daughter the way you loved me, the way you loved my brother and my sisters. Thank you for giving me strength, my heart, my empathy, my courage, my sense of humour, my manners, my temper, my wildness, my tenacity. I’m a product of your heart, my sisters are a product of your heart, my brother is a product of your heart.”
Smith-Petersen and Riley have been married since 2015, but haven’t previously revealed they had a daughter together.
Lisa Marie with her children Riley and Benjamin Keough in 2010
‘Her father’s protector’
Joel Weinshanker closed the ceremony, saying: “Lisa’s voice will only be amplified with time, and never be silenced or diminished. She was and will always be her father’s protector, and we will continue to be hers”.
He asked everyone present to respect the family’s wishes not to be photographed or videoed.
Those present were then invited to come in groups to view Lisa Marie’s headstone in Meditation Garden.
Elvis is also buried at Graceland, as are Elvis’s parents, his paternal grandmother, and his grandson Benjamin Keough – Lisa Marie’s son – who took his own life in 2020, aged 27.
Lisa Marie’s final resting place is next to her son and near to her father.
Elvis died from heart failure aged 42 when Lisa Marie was aged just nine. She was four when Elvis and Priscilla Presley were divorced in 1972.
Read more: The tragic life of Lisa Marie Presley
Lisa Marie was married four times, including to pop star Michael Jackson and actor Nicolas Cage.
She had struggled with opioid addiction following the birth of her twin daughters in 2008.
Just months before her death she wrote in an essay for People magazine: “I’ve dealt with death, grief and loss since the age of nine years old.
“I’ve had more than anyone’s fair share of it in my lifetime and somehow, I’ve made it this far.”
She went on: “Death is part of life whether we like it or not – and so is grieving.”
Lisa Marie is survived by her three daughters, actress and model Riley Keough, and teenage twins Finley Lockwood and Harper Lockwood.
Her children will inherit the Graceland estate, as she inherited it from Elvis following his death.
The UK-US trade deal has been signed and is “done”, US President Donald Trump has said as he met Sir Keir Starmer at the G7 summit.
The US president told reporters: “We signed it, and it’s done. It’s a fair deal for both. It’ll produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income.”
As Mr Trump and his British counterpart exited a mountain lodge in the Canadian Rockies where the summit is being held, the US president held up a physical copy of the trade agreement to show reporters.
Several leaves of paper fell from the binding, and Mr Starmer quickly bent down to pick them up, saying: “A very important document.”
President Donald Trump drops papers as he meets with Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Kananaskis, Canada. Pic: AP
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Sir Keir Starmer hastily collects the signed executive order documents from the ground and hands them back to the US president.
Sir Keir said the document “implements” the deal to cut tariffs on cars and aerospace, adding: “So this is a very good day for both of our countries – a real sign of strength.”
Mr Trump added that the UK was “very well protected” against any future tariffs, saying: “You know why? Because I like them”.
However, he did not say whether levies on British steel exports to the US would be set to 0%, saying “we’re gonna let you have that information in a little while”.
Sir Keir Starmer picks up paper from the UK-US trade deal after Donald Trump dropped it at the G7 summit. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump also praised Sir Keir as a “great” prime minister, adding: “We’ve been talking about this deal for six years, and he’s done what they haven’t been able to do.”
He added: “We’re very longtime partners and allies and friends and we’ve become friends in a short period of time.
“He’s slightly more liberal than me to put it mildly… but we get along.”
Sir Keir added that “we make it work”.
The US president appeared to mistakenly refer to a “trade agreement with the European Union” at one point as he stood alongside the British prime minister.
Mr Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on countries in April. At the time, he announced 10% “reciprocal” rates on all UK exports – as well as separately announced 25% levies on cars and steel.
Read more:
G7 summit ‘all about the Donald’ – analysis
Scrambled G7 agenda as leaders race to de-escalate Israel-Iran conflict
In a joint televised phone call in May, Sir Keir and Mr Trump announced the UK and US had agreed on a trade deal – but added the details were being finalised.
Ahead of the G7 summit, the prime minister said he would meet Mr Trump for “one-on-one” talks, and added the agreement “really matters for the vital sectors that are safeguarded under our deal, and we’ve got to implement that”.
US
Doctor to plead guilty to giving Matthew Perry ketamine before Friends star suffered fatal overdose
A Los Angeles doctor has agreed to plead guilty to giving Friends actor Matthew Perry ketamine in the lead up to his death from a fatal overdose, prosecutors have said.
Dr Salvador Plasencia, who will admit to four counts of distribution of ketamine, faces up to a maximum of 40 years in prison.
He is among five people charged in connection with the death of Friends star Perry, 54, whose body was found in his hot tub by his assistant in October 2023.
The medical examiner ruled that ketamine and other factors caused him to lose consciousness and drown.
The actor had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal treatment for depression, but had begun seeking more ketamine than his doctor would give him.
Salvador Plasencia. Pic: Malibu Canyon Urgent Care
Plasencia is accused of supplying the bulk of Perry’s ketamine in his final weeks. He and three other defendants, including another doctor, agreed to plead guilty in exchange for their cooperation.
Jasmine Sangha, who prosecutors allege was a major ketamine dealer, is alleged to have provided the dose that killed the actor and is the only defendant who has pleaded not guilty to the prosecution’s case.
About a month before the actor’s death, Perry found Plasencia, a doctor who allegedly asked another doctor, Mark Chavez, to obtain the drug for him, according to court filings in the Chavez case.
“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted Chavez, according to court filings from prosecutors.
Dr Mark Chavez has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute ketamine to Perry. File pic: AP
Read more from Sky News:
Courteney Cox pays tribute to Perry
Lisa Kudrow talks about star’s death
The pair who practised in California met up the same day and exchanged at least four vials of ketamine, the filings said.
After selling the drugs to Perry for $4,500 (£3,314), Plasencia allegedly asked Chavez if he could keep supplying them so they could become Perry’s “go-to” prosecutors said.
Chavez has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute ketamine to Perry.
Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on Friends, when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing.
He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004.
US
Suspect in killing of US politician went to homes of other lawmakers in same night, officials say
A man accused of killing a US politician and her husband went to the homes of other lawmakers that night, intending to kill them, officials said.
Vance Boelter, 57, meticulously planned his attacks, carrying out surveillance missions, taking notes on the properties and people he targeted and disguising himself as a police officer, according to Minnesota’s acting US attorney Joseph Thompson.
Read more: Shooting suspect captured after two-day manhunt
Authorities believe Boelter wore a mask as he posed as a police officer and shone a torch in the face of some of his victims to disguise his identity.
The FBI released this image of Vance Boelter posing as a police officer. Pic: FBI.
“It is no exaggeration to say that his crimes are the stuff of nightmare,” said Mr Thompson.
Boelter, 57, allegedly shot and wounded Senator John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, in their Minneapolis home in the early hours of Saturday morning.
John Hoffman. Pic: Facebook/Senator John Hoffman
He then travelled to the home of another state lawmaker but she and her family were on holiday, so they didn’t answer the door, said Mr Thompson.
Video showed that Boelter rang the doorbell at around 2.24am on Friday but left when the family didn’t respond.
Vance Boelter. Pic: Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office/Reuters
He then drove to the home of an unnamed state senator, but after the Hoffmans’ adult daughter called emergency services to say her parents had been shot, a police officer was dispatched to conduct a wellness check.
That officer saw Boelter’s car parked up the street but thought he was another officer, said Mr Thompson.
Boelter had reportedly altered his car to make it look more like a police car.
He then left and drove to the home of lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, according to an FBI affidavit.
Read more:
Neighbours of murdered US politician stunned
Melissa Hortman. Pic: Instagram
Local police officers, also conducting a check, arrived to see Boelter fatally shoot Mark Hortman through the open door of the home, according to the document.
Melissa Hortman was found dead inside.
Boelter was arrested on Sunday evening after a huge manhunt in a rural area in Sibley County, southwest of Minneapolis.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
He faces two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder in the deaths of the Hortmans and the wounding of Mr Hoffman and his wife.
Before his arrest, the father of five texted his family group chat saying: “Dad went to war last night … I don’t wanna say more because I don’t wanna implicate anybody,” according to the affidavit.
His wife got another text that said: “Words are not gonna explain how sorry I am for this situation… there’s gonna be some people coming to the house armed and trigger-happy and I don’t want you guys around,” the document said.
Several AK-style firearms and a list of about 70 names, which included politicians and abortion rights activists, were allegedly found inside his vehicle.
A Minnesota official said politicians who had been outspoken in favour of abortion rights were on the list.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike