Priscilla Presley says family had no privacy at Elvis Graceland funeral

Priscilla Presley says her family had no privacy during Elvis Presley’s Graceland funeral, describing the scene as overwhelming and intensely public. In her new memoir, Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis, released this week, the 80-year-old former wife of the King recounts how crowds and cameras surrounded Graceland as mourners waited to be admitted to the house for Elvis’s public viewing of his open casket. Elvis died Aug. 16, 1977, at age 42, and two days later a nationwide public funeral drew thousands to his Memphis estate before a private service was held in the living room and music room of Graceland.

The death and its aftermath unfolded under a media spotlight that Presley says left little room for private grief. The crowds swelled to the point that the nation’s capital was alerted to manage the spectacle. "The crowds were so large by the second day that President Jimmy Carter called up the Air National Guard to help local police," Presley writes. "It was hot and muggy, and some in the crowd fainted from the heat and from emotion." She adds that the sheer scale of the public farewell was emotionally overwhelming for the family, who felt compelled to endure the moment rather than mourn in private. "There wasn’t room yet for our own grief."

The memoir recalls the more intimate farewell that followed, with Elvis's father Vernon Presley and Priscilla’s young daughter, Lisa Marie, by his side. Presley writes that she and Lisa Marie waited until they could be alone with Elvis to say goodbye, and that they kissed him one last time. "Lisa and I waited until we could be alone with Elvis to say goodbye… Then we each kissed him one last time," she writes. "I’m not sure it hit me until then that he was really gone." Lisa Marie Presley, who would go on to inherit her father’s estate, died in 2023 from a small bowel obstruction at age 54.

The public tragedy and the family’s struggle to grieve in public are recurring themes in the memoir, with Presley describing how Elvis’s death felt like a force of nature she could not control. "He was such a force of nature," she writes of the man she married in 1967. The book also touches on the end of their marriage; Presley notes that Elvis filed for divorce in 1972 and that their separation lingered as part of the broader emotional landscape surrounding his passing.

Beyond the Graceland funeral, the book contains other passages from Presley’s life, including how and when she learned Elvis was unfaithful to her. During promotions for Softly, As I Leave You on the Today show this week, she described the moment and the timing of that revelation, offering another lens on their complicated relationship and the pressures of living in the public eye. The memoir, published by Grand Central Publishing, has drawn significant attention for its candid portraits of a famous union and the private family grief that followed Elvis’s death.

The cover and public appearances for Softly, As I Leave You have kept Priscilla Presley in the entertainment conversation this fall, including a recent conversation in New York City about the book. The release comes as historians and fans alike revisit Elvis’s impact on music and popular culture, and as the Presley family continues to manage the enduring legacy surrounding Graceland and its place in American cultural memory.

Priscilla Presley has long spoken about the emotional toll of Elvis’s death. In interviews since 2018, she has described how the public viewing and funeral rituals unfolded, and how the family coped with a loss that felt both sudden and all-consuming. The new memoir adds context to those memories and provides a personal account of grief, centering on a time when privacy for the family was scarce and the nation’s attention was unrelenting.

In discussing the book’s broader themes, Presley emphasizes resilience and continuity—how a family maintains its sense of self after a life-altering event and how memories of Elvis persist in the daily lives of those who loved him. The memoir’s wake is a reminder of the human side of iconic celebrity, and of the complex ways families navigate fame, loss, and memory over decades.

As Softly, As I Leave You continues to garner attention, Priscilla Presley’s reflections add another layer to the legacy of Elvis and to the memory of a family that endured a deeply public grief. The memoir arrives amid renewed public interest in Elvis’s life and the ongoing cultural significance of Graceland as a symbol of American music history. The Presley family’s story continues to unfold in public forums, interviews, and a body of work that seeks to balance a legendary life with the intimate human experiences of those left behind.