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.
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’
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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”.
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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.”
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.”
‘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.
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.
‘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.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
Paris Hilton says her “heart has shattered into a million pieces,” after visiting the charred remains of her Malibu beach house which has been destroyed in wildfires sweeping LA.
Describing herself on Instagram as “in complete shock,” the hotel heiress said seeing her family memories “reduced to ashes” was “devastating”.
Meanwhile, Mel Gibson has said the loss of his family home and all his belongings in the fire was “emotional”. It burned down while he was recording the Joe Rogan Experience in Texas.
At least 10 people have been killed in the blazes, which have been burning for four days, forcing 179,000 to evacuate their homes. Tens of thousands of acres of land still burning.
The fires affected multiple celebrities, as the fires have ripped through exclusive suburbs in southern California, home to film stars and billionaires.
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Celebrities’ homes have burned down in the LA fires
Hilton, 43, said she watched her home burn to the ground on TV – and shared a video on social media from inside her gutted home.
She said she was grateful to be safe along with her husband Carter Reum and their two children, Phoenix and London, but was devastated to have lost her family home.
She wrote on Instagram: “I’m standing here in what used to be our home, and the heartbreak is truly indescribable.
“When I first saw the news, I was in complete shock – I couldn’t process it. But now, standing here and seeing it with my own eyes, it feels like my heart has shattered into a million pieces.”
She has lived in the multi-million-pound property for three years.
Hilton added: “This house wasn’t just a place to live – it was where we dreamed, laughed, and created the most beautiful memories as a family.
“It was where [son] Phoenix’s little hands made art that I’ll cherish forever, where love and life filled every corner. To see it reduced to ashes… it’s devastating beyond words.
“What breaks my heart even more is knowing that this isn’t just my story. So many people have lost everything. It’s not just walls and roofs – it’s the memories that made those houses homes. It’s the photos, the keepsakes, the irreplaceable pieces of our lives.”
She described herself as “incredibly lucky,” adding: “My loved ones, my babies, and my pets are safe. That’s the most important thing”.
She thanked the firefighters, first responders and volunteers who she said were “all risking their lives” to help, adding “Even in the ashes, there is still beauty in this world”.
‘When I got home, it wasn’t there’
Braveheart star Mel Gibson, who was away when the fires began, told NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas Reports that the home he had lived in for over a decade had burned while he was appearing on an episode of the Joe Rogan podcast.
The 69-year-old actor said it was “emotional” to know all his belongings have been lost, but he was doing his best to stay positive.
He said he felt “relieved from the burden of my stuff, because it’s all in cinders”.
Gibson, who lived in his Hollywood home with his partner Rosalind Ross and their seven-year-old son Lars, described finding out about the loss of his house.
“I was doing the Rogan podcast… And [I was] kind of ill at ease while we were talking, because I knew my neighbourhood was on fire, so I thought, I wonder if my place is still there.
“But when I got home, sure enough, it wasn’t there. I went home and I said to myself, well, at least I haven’t got any of those pesky plumbing problems anymore.”
He said the family’s pet chickens had survived the blaze, and while many “personal things from over the years” had been lost, the important things were still there.
“These are only things. And the good news is that those in my family and those I love are all well, and we’re all happy and healthy and out of harm’s way, that’s all I can care about, really.”
The ancestral home of Big Lebowski actor Jeff Bridges is also understood to have been destroyed.
The four-bedroom home, which had been in the Bridges family for generations, had been inherited by Bridges and his two siblings in 2018 according to the Los Angeles Times.
Tina Knowles, the mother of singer Beyonce, has also lost a house she owned in Malibu to the fires.
She shared a short video of dolphins playing in the sea on Instagram, writing: “This is what I was looking at on my birthday this past weekend from my tiny little bungalow on the water in Malibu! It was my favorite place, my sanctuary, my sacred Happy Place. Now it is gone!!”
She went on to thank the fire department and first responders and offered condolences to others affected by the fires.
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Take That star Mark Owen and his family were evacuated from their home, with his wife Emma Ferguson describing them waking to “helicopters, thick black smoke and winds howling”.
She said while she was grateful her family was safe, it was “exhausting” to be “constantly looking online to see if your house is gone.”
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Steve Guttenberg: ‘I’ve seen such tragedy’
Actor Steve Guttenberg, best known for his role in the Police Academy film franchise, has called the fires “absolutely the worst” he’s ever seen, and has been doing what he can to help distressed residents.
Other stars to have lost their homes in the fires include Billy Crystal, Miles Teller, Diane Waren, Ricki Lake, Cary Elwes, Milo Ventimiglia, Anna Faris, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester, Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag.
On Friday, the Recording Academy, which runs the Grammy Awards, and charity MusiCares have pledged $1m (£813,000) to support music artists impacted by the fires.
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis has pledged the same amount to fire relief efforts from her family foundation.
Alec Baldwin has filed a lawsuit against prosecutors who pursued a criminal charge against him after the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust.
The Hollywood actor, who was the lead actor and co-producer of the Western film, was pointing a gun at Ms Hutchins when it fired in October 2021.
The cinematographer was killed and director Joel Souza was wounded.
Baldwin, 66, was accused of involuntary manslaughter but his trial was upended in July when a judge threw the case out based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of ammunition evidence from the defence.
He has now filed a lawsuit for malicious prosecution and civil rights violations against those involved in pursuing the charge.
The lawsuit alleges that prosecutors intentionally concealed evidence that would absolve Baldwin from blame and “sought at every turn to scapegoat” him to “maliciously bring about or advance” the actor’s trial and conviction.
It claims the defendants, which include special prosecutor Kari Morrissey and Santa Fe district attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, were “blinded by their desire to convict Baldwin for all the wrong reasons”.
In a statement, Ms Morrissey said: “In October 2023 the prosecution team became aware that Mr Baldwin intended to file a retaliatory civil lawsuit.
“We look forward to our day in court.”
Representatives for Ms Carmack-Altwies have been contacted for comment.
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From July 2024: Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey accused of calling Baldwin a ‘c*********’
Baldwin’s lawsuit has been filed less than a month after Ms Morrissey withdrew an appeal over the court’s decision to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor.
After the lawsuit was filed, Baldwin’s lawyers Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said in a joint statement: “Criminal prosecutions are supposed to be about the search for truth and justice, not to pursue personal or political gain or harass the innocent.
“Kari Morrissey and the other defendants violated that basic principle, over and over, and trampled on Alec Baldwin’s rights.
“We bring this action to hold the defendants accountable for their misconduct and to prevent them from doing this to anyone else.”
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From November 2024: Tributes paid to Halyna Hutchins at Rust premiere
Baldwin had always denied the charge of involuntary manslaughter, maintaining he did not pull the gun’s trigger and that others on the set in New Mexico were responsible for safety checks on the weapon.
If he had been convicted, he could have faced up to 18 months in prison.
According to the prosecution, the actor had behaved recklessly during a scene rehearsal on the set near Santa Fe, playing “make believe with a real gun” and violating “the cardinal rules of firearm safety”.
Baldwin’s defence team argued this was not true – saying he was “an actor, acting” and “committed no crime”.
Following repeated suggestions from defence lawyer Alex Spiro that evidence had been concealed, in an unusual move, Ms Morrissey called herself to the witness stand during the trial, despite the judge telling her she was not required to do so.
Mr Spiro told the court that she had referred to the actor as a “c*********” and an “arrogant p****” to witnesses. Ms Morrissey said she did not recall this.