Priscilla Presley Says She Wants to 'Keep Our Family Together' on Lisa Marie's 55th Birthday https://t.co/Tz5EhmumJN

— People (@people) February 1, 2023

Priscilla Presley has marked Lisa Marie’s 55th birthday by announcing that she wants to keep her family together. In a statement to People, she said:

"Today would have been Lisa's 55th birthday. My wish is to protect my three grandchildren and keep our family together. From the first moment I held Lisa in my arms, I've protected, loved and guided her, as I have my son. Our hearts are broken, and I am having to learn to live without my only daughter. We truly love all of you, and we feel your prayers. Thank you so much for caring so deeply for our family."

Priscilla is currently contesting the “authenticity and validity” of daughter Lisa Marie's will after a 2016 amendment removed her as co-trustee and inserted her adult children. Lisa's daughter Riley Keough is now sole trustee of the trust after brother Benjamin's death in 2020.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, Priscilla's son Navarone got a nice little feature about his life and music career in People on his sister's birthday.

In related news, Joel Weinshanker, a Managing Partner at Elvis Presley Enterprises, spoke about Lisa Marie’s wishes during an appearance on SiriusXM's Elvis Radio in honor of her birthday.

"When Elvis passed away, he left everything to his little girl. He did so knowing that she would be the one to keep his legacy going," Joel said. "I can tell you that she has, without falter, no matter what else was happening in her life, in her career, always been the one to look at what was best for Elvis... regardless of what somebody else was trying to do, regardless of what another family member [was trying to] do."

"Lisa couldn't be bought. She couldn't be pushed," he continued. "If she thought something wasn't in Elvis' best interest, it was never about money. She really is the only Presley that you can ever say that about."

Joel additionally stated that Lisa Marie was "very, very quite certain and quite direct about who she wanted to have the legacy [left] to," something he said she discussed with him "many, many times."

"That was always Riley and Ben. There was never a question in her mind that they would be the stewards, that they would look at it exactly the way she did. Obviously, when Ben passed, it really sat with Riley," he said. "Although Riley is a movie star, she's an award-winning director, she had always had an interest and had always known that, one day, she would be in charge of [things]."

"Obviously, it's much, much sooner than we would ever hope for. But on Lisa's birthday, we just want to think about what Lisa would've wanted and that's what's best for Elvis. She never had a doubt in her mind that that's Riley," Joel added. "There's no question on anyone's mind [because] Lisa had spoken [about] it, there's numerous amounts of written information, she had talked to so many of her friends about it. There was never a question, and anybody who's speaking differently isn't looking out for Elvis, isn't looking out for Lisa, certainly isn't looking out for Riley."

Joel continued by revealing that his decision to speak out came when he realized that "sometimes you just gotta take a stand."

"It's Riley. It's what Lisa would've wanted. It's what makes sense. It always comes back to what's best for Elvis and that's what that is," he said. "... I think what we need to do on her birthday is honor her words. Those were her words, not mine, and it's something that we all want to think about going forward... What we need to do is we need to honor the ones that honor Elvis, and that was always, always his daughter, Lisa."

Source, two

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