Priscilla Presley details saving Graceland as she promotes memoir in NYC

Priscilla Presley is on a New York City press tour for Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis, a memoir in which she recounts how she helped preserve Elvis's Graceland estate after his death. The book, released officially on Tuesday, frames her involvement in keeping the landmark property from being sold to cover mounting costs and debt carried by the estate.

During appearances tied to the tour, Presley has offered a detailed account of the financial strains Graceland faced in the years after Elvis's death and how she stepped in to steer the estate toward a path that preserved the family legacy.

On Tuesday night, Presley drew attention at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in New York City, where she appeared in a white blazer and skirt, paired with edgy black leather boots and a semi-transparent scarf. Her fiery red hair was pulled back into a low ponytail with a side part, and she flashed smiles and waves to fans gathered outside the studio as she arrived and departed.

The memoir recounts how Graceland's finances had worsened to the point that both Presley and her daughter Lisa Marie Presley were drawing from the estate's funds to meet expenses, with the property deemed a significant financial drain. Attorneys for the estate reportedly told Presley they might need to sell Graceland to cover costs, a prospect she rejected outright. In the book, Presley says she told the counsel that selling Graceland would never happen.

With the help of Morgan Maxfield, a wealthy businessman, Presley outlines a plan to open Graceland to the public as a way to generate revenue and preserve the property's legacy. Maxfield's project momentum was cut short by his death in a plane crash, occurring a year before Graceland officially opened its doors to visitors. The opening itself marked a turning point in how fans could experience Elvis's legacy firsthand, an effort Presley described as a culmination of Elvis's own wishes about building the right team and attracting the right investors and institutions.

Elvis Presley met Priscilla in the late 1950s while he was serving in the U.S. Army; the couple wed in 1967 and welcomed daughter Lisa Marie the following year before divorcing in 1973. Presley later had a long-running relationship with Brazilian screenwriter Marco Garibaldi, with whom she had a son, Navarone. Elvis died in 1977 at age 42, a tragedy that had a lasting impact on the family. Lisa Marie Presley died in January 2023 at age 54.

Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis serves as Presley’s latest public chapter, offering a personal perspective on life after the icon's passing and the ongoing legacy of Graceland.