\n<\/p>\n
https:\/\/instagram.com\/p\/DQ7bOUxERZU<\/a> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
With the release of Lisa Marie Presley\u2019s posthumous memoir From Here to the Great Unknown in paperback, I thought it would be interesting to compare Lisa Marie\u2019s with her mother Priscilla’s book Softly As I Leave You, released this year. While there’s obviously differences of perception, the contrast is sometimes quite large. Priscilla’s book would even at times appear to be direct responses to accusations made by Lisa Marie and Riley in their book.<\/p>\n
In this installment (part one here<\/a>), we’re comparing recollections involving Michael Jackson, Nicolas Cage and family dynamics. <\/p>\n
All excerpts are from each respective book and are being used for educational purposes only. I only quote relevant portions and do not include every variation of recollection. If you want the full stories, please read the books.<\/p>\n
So let’s begin!<\/p>\n
Lisa Marie and Motherhood<\/u><\/b> <\/p>\n
Priscilla:<\/p>\n
Lisa was a good mom, a really good mom, fiercely devoted to her children. She would do anything to keep them happy and safe. Her parenting style was different from mine, of course. She was as much a friend as a parent. Lisa held her children close. With Riley and Benjamin, there weren\u2019t that many trips to see Nona (as they referred to me). Lisa was jealous of anybody being too close to the children, even me. They were her babies.<\/i><\/p>\n
But I understood, and I couldn\u2019t have asked for a more loving and committed mother for my grandchildren.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Riley:<\/p>\n
We lived in a big, old house. To the right of the front door there is a bedroom, and I am peeking through the door. It is dark in the room\u2014all the shades are down even though it\u2019s daytime. I\u2019m watching my mom shushing my brother\u2014he is on her shoulder. I remember the rhythm of it, the sh-sh-sh, three notes repeated over and over.<\/i><\/p>\n
I realize now that this was my first understanding of the depth of her maternal instincts\u2014my mom had the strongest such instincts of anyone I\u2019ve ever met. Eventually it would be clear to me that should anyone hurt Ben or me, she\u2019d probably track them down for as long as it would take, like in a Western. This was the presence you could feel in her, and it wasn\u2019t small. It was terrifying.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Lisa Marie:<\/p>\n
I fell in love with being a mom. I realized I had been called to care for something else. Being a mom was everything to me and Riley was the most precious gem. I was going to do whatever I could possibly do to protect her and raise her.<\/i><\/p>\n
That thing where you either do what your parents did, or you do the exact opposite of what was done to you? I did the opposite.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Power Over the Elvis Estate<\/u><\/b> <\/p>\n
Priscilla: <\/p>\n
I remained busy and involved as the trustee for Graceland and Elvis\u2019s estate as well […] I am proud that I played a key role in saving not only Graceland but also Lisa\u2019s inheritance.<\/i><\/p>\n
[…] Three weeks later, on February 1, Lisa officially came of age. I was not involved in the financial transfer that took place; that was handled by Lisa\u2019s attorney and by her business manager, Barry Siegel. It was essential for me to stay out of Lisa\u2019s financial affairs. I was her mother, not her business manager. It is never a good idea to confuse those two roles.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Lisa:<\/p>\n
One day I made the mistake of sitting at the head of the table at a board meeting. My mom came in and said, \u201cDon\u2019t you ever sit in my seat at the head of the table. Who do you think you are? This is my business, I am the one who opened Graceland. You can\u2019t just come in and sit there like you\u2019re something!\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Interacting with the “Real” Michael Jackson, Lisa\u2019s 2nd Husband<\/u><\/b> <\/p>\n
Priscilla: <\/p>\n
My relationship with Michael was bizarre from the beginning. Not long after Lisa started dating him, she invited me to a party that he was attending at her house. […] I thought it might be a good chance for me to get to know him a little and see if my concerns were valid. I was prepared to be pleasant, but he wanted nothing to do with me […] In fact, he stayed far away from all the adults. The adults were sitting up near the house, and there was a field below where children were playing ball. Michael was down below, playing with them. The adults were all chitchatting away, watching them play, but he stayed away from everyone. I don\u2019t know if he didn\u2019t want to answer questions about the court cases or if he simply preferred playing with the children. <\/i><\/p>\n
I thought maybe he was just very shy […] He was courting my daughter, and I wanted to know who he was as a person.<\/p>\n
[…] He continued to go to great lengths to avoid me. My only actual contact with him was during an Elvis event in Memphis. I think it was a tribute concert. Michael showed up at Lisa\u2019s hotel unexpectedly, planning to sit with her at the concert, and his plans bothered me. His appearance was guaranteed to draw a great deal of attention, which would detract from the focus on honoring Elvis. It felt almost like another publicity stunt. <\/p>\n
I went by the hotel beforehand to meet up with Lisa and asked her where Michael was. She said he was in the other room. He didn\u2019t come out to greet me. A few minutes after I arrived, the door down the hall opened, and Michael popped out. He grabbed his hat off the table where he\u2019d left it, sort of smiled, and then popped back in the room and shut the door. He said nothing to me on the way to the show. […] Early the next morning, he was gone. That was the sum total of my direct interactions with my son-in-law during the marriage.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Lisa:<\/p>\n
I met Michael Jackson when I was a little girl in Las Vegas. I think I was about six. My dad was performing at the Hilton and the Jackson 5 were playing down the road. Michael remembered that I went backstage and met them. I don\u2019t remember it at all. […] Michael told me later that when I was on the cover of People magazine after Danny and I got married, he was devastated. He thought that he should be with me instead.<\/i><\/p>\n
[…] The first time meeting Michael that I actually remember was in 1993, right after he did his famous Super Bowl halftime performance and his interview with Oprah. We met through a mutual friend. I had a demo tape out\u2014he said he\u2019d heard it and wanted to meet me. I didn\u2019t want to go at first. <\/p>\n
[…] When Michael arrived, I was shocked that he was alone, and further shocked that he was really subdued and extremely nice […] We just clicked. Phone numbers were exchanged, and he\u2019d call me. <\/p>\n
[…] And as for that meeting as children? He remembered every detail\u2014where I\u2019d sat, what I\u2019d said.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cYou remember the white dress?\u201d<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cHow do you remember the white dress I wore? My God. You remember? I don\u2019t remember any of this. All I remember was being afraid to tell my dad I wanted to go see somebody else\u2019s show.\u201d<\/p>\n
[…] The final night, Michael again invited me to his room. When I arrived, he said, \u201cDon\u2019t look at me, I\u2019m really nervous. I want to tell you something,\u201d and then he turned out the lights.<\/p>\n
And in the darkness Michael said, \u201cI don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve noticed, but I\u2019m completely gone in love with you. I want us to get married and for you to have my children.\u201d Then he played me a song about how he felt and when he finished, he said, \u201cYou don\u2019t have to say anything. I know I\u2019ve thrown you off, but I really want you. I want to be with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t say anything immediately, but eventually I said, \u201cI\u2019m really so flattered, I can\u2019t even talk.\u201d By then, I felt I was in love with him, too. I had told him that my marriage was in serious trouble.<\/p>\n
[…] I hadn\u2019t wanted to tell him that I felt the same way because I had my two kids with me, and first I had to go home and tell my husband. But I was fully in love, too.<\/p>\n
[…] I fell in love with him because he was normal, just fucking normal. His normal was a side that no one saw.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Lisa\u2019s Connection to Michael<\/u><\/b> <\/p>\n
Priscilla:<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not sure anyone was stronger than Lisa, and she was certainly wealthier. She wanted to be with a man who was on the same level she was.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Lisa:<\/p>\n
I was only supposed to go to Vegas for two days, but I ended up staying for eight. Nothing happened physically, but the connection was so insanely strong.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Riley: <\/p>\n
I think Michael got right at my mom\u2019s core. She wanted to fix him, and she felt he was misunderstood, a feeling she was very familiar with.<\/i><\/p>\n
[…] My mom told me that she communicated with Michael through her dreams for months after he died.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Marrying Michael Jackson<\/u><\/b> <\/p>\n
Priscilla: <\/p>\n
In the spring of 1994, she divorced Danny. Three weeks later, on May 26, 1994, she married Michael Jackson in a secret ceremony in the Dominican Republic […] I was appalled by the marriage. I knew in my bones that Michael wasn\u2019t marrying Lisa Marie; he was marrying the Presley dynasty. The King of Pop was allying himself with the King of Rock and Roll.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Lisa: <\/p>\n
I was actually so happy.<\/i><\/p>\n
I\u2019ve never been that happy again.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Riley: <\/p>\n
At first, we had no idea if they were in a romantic relationship or if this was just a friend she was bringing around […] With Mimi, as with others, we would hang out and do activities together long before she would ever tell us that they were in a relationship.<\/i><\/p>\n
I don\u2019t remember the moment that she told me they were getting married, but I do recall he started sleeping over.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
https:\/\/instagram.com\/p\/DQ7J6NMj8at<\/a> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Abuse Allegations<\/u><\/b> <\/p>\n
Priscilla: <\/p>\n
He married her at a time when he desperately needed good publicity that depicted him as a desirable heterosexual man. It was one thing to legally fight the child molestation charges against him. There was no way to come out of that looking good. But photos of him with Elvis\u2019s daughter wearing the huge diamond engagement ring he\u2019d had made for her? That image was pure gold.<\/i><\/p>\n
[…] Michael had started reaching out to her when the child abuse charges went public. I think that\u2019s how he hooked her in the beginning. She felt sorry for him, and naturally, she believed in his innocence. Nobody wants to believe those kinds of allegations against someone they know. They began talking on the phone regularly, and she was gradually drawn in. Michael was a manipulative man, and I think he had his sights set on her long before she realized it. The childlike innocence he projected was part of his public mask. She learned this early on, and it bothered her, but she didn\u2019t see it for the warning sign it was.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Lisa:<\/p>\n
When Michael had called me after the allegations, what he told me at the time was that Evan Chandler, the father of one of the accusers, was extorting him, and I think I told Michael to settle it, everyone advised that he settle because it was going to be a fucking nightmare.<\/i><\/p>\n
As for child molestation, I never saw a goddamn thing like that. I personally would\u2019ve killed him if I had.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Riley:<\/p>\n
Just as my mother used to pick up the phone to listen in on conversations between Elvis and Ginger Alden, I once unwittingly picked up the phone in Florida in time to hear my father\u2014who had just seen a photo in the press of Michael Jackson, my mother, me, and Ben\u2014say, \u201cGet my son off that guy\u2019s fucking lap.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n
I quickly hung up the phone. <\/p>\n
Strangely, this was the first time I realized my father was upset about my mom\u2019s marriage to Michael\u2014that\u2019s how well they protected us from their adult problems.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
For further context, Riley on the Call Her Daddy podcast, 2025: <\/p>\n
“I was never told anything. And it\u2019s actually not something I ever asked as an adult. I think it just was what it was. It just never came to mind. I would imagine that my dad was really heartbroken in reading the news […] I would imagine he said all kinds of things to my mom that we didn\u2019t know about.<\/i><\/p>\n
The way my parents parented was very much like, ‘We don\u2019t fight around the kids. We don\u2019t ever say anything around them’…We didn\u2019t know anything. We didn\u2019t know about any allegations.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Was MJ Actually in Love with Lisa?<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n
Priscilla:<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t believe he loved her.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Lisa does not directly address this in her memoir, but said in a 2003 Rolling Stone interview:<\/p>\n
“[MJ was in love with me] As much as he can, possibly. I don\u2019t know how much he can access love, really. I think as much as he can love somebody he might have loved me.”<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Riley on the Call Her Daddy podcast, 2025:<\/p>\n
“The one thing I know is that they were in love and that their love for one another was genuine because I was there and I remember […] Everything else, I don\u2019t know \u2019cause I wasn\u2019t there.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Michael’s Obsession with Having Children with Lisa<\/u><\/b> <\/p>\n
Priscilla: <\/p>\n
We were on vacation in Hawaii not long after they married when Lisa told me, \u201cMom, Michael wants us to have a child.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n
We were walking down the beach alone, and it was clear that Lisa wanted to talk. I said, \u201cI think it\u2019s too soon , Lisa. I don\u2019t think you should have a child with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said, \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d <\/p>\n
I told her, \u201cWell, you just got married. You need to work out the marriage first.\u201d <\/p>\n
I reminded her that she\u2019d been with a lot of guys over the years and then broken up with them. I told her that I thought she needed to put some time in first and make sure the relationship worked out before bringing a child into it. I was privately wondering why the hurry. I didn\u2019t trust his motives. A child would be a proof of virility. And I couldn\u2019t help wondering if he wanted to have Elvis\u2019s grandchild. <\/p>\n
There was a pause, and then she said, \u201cBut I hardly ever see him, Mom.\u201d <\/p>\n
I said, \u201cWhat do you mean, you hardly ever see him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see him. He\u2019ll come for a couple of days, and then he leaves again. I don\u2019t know where he goes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Lisa:<\/p>\n
He had wanted me to have his children so badly and I didn\u2019t want to. I knew he ultimately wanted to be the only caretaker of the children. Michael wanted to control things. He didn\u2019t want a mother influence, or any other influence, in fact.<\/i><\/p>\n
I figured that Michael would have me have the children and then dump me, get me out of the picture. I could read him like a clock. I understood everything, and I knew everything about him because all we did was bare our souls to one another. I knew his nature, and he was very controlling and calculating.<\/p>\n
[…] One time he was working, and he called me. During the conversation I said, \u201cYou\u2019re like a snake\u2014I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re going to crawl out from under\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael said, \u201cOh, that\u2019s great. I call home and talk to my wife, and she tells me I\u2019m a snake.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d I said, \u201cyeah, you are.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Riley:<\/p>\n
Michael really wanted kids with my mom from the minute they got together, but she never felt certain about it. She didn\u2019t have that feeling she\u2019d had with my father. Whether to have children was a fundamental conflict in their marriage from the start. I know that once in a while Michael would say, \u201cIf you\u2019re not going to have children with me, then I\u2019m going to find somebody who will.\u201d He would also say, \u201cDebbie Rowe told me she will have my children.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
To which my mom would respond jealously, \u201cThen go fuck Debbie Rowe.\u201d All I knew of Debbie was that she was a kind lady who helped me with my ear infections.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Divorcing Michael<\/u><\/b> <\/p>\n
Priscilla: <\/p>\n
Lisa was very unhappy. Michael was never around. She knew that sometimes when he was gone, he was at his ranch with kids. It bothered her that he would rather be with them than with her. I think that eventually, the allegations ate away at her. Both of them were so famous, and Michael had such a huge fan base, that she felt as though they were constantly under a microscope. She didn\u2019t feel comfortable criticizing him publicly, because she would come out of it the culprit. Her words would spread like wildfire, and she was the one who would look bad.<\/i><\/p>\n
Finally, she\u2019d had enough. She called to tell me she wanted a divorce. She had begun to feel like the marriage was a setup. He didn\u2019t want to be with her; he wanted to be with Elvis Presley\u2019s daughter. If he\u2019d wanted to be with her, he wouldn\u2019t have been gone for most of their marriage. On January 18, 1996, Lisa filed for divorce. <\/p>\n
I could practically hear Elvis sigh with relief.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Lisa doesn’t really touch on the divorce in detail but said in conversation with journalist Tony Ortega in 2015, released after her 2023 death:<\/p>\n
“I was in love with Michael, believe it or not. I didn\u2019t want to leave him. He was in trouble and I wanted to help him. And they made sure that I left him […] they realized he was getting too much bad press […] DM [David Miscavige] facilitated my divorce with MJ.”<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Riley: <\/p>\n
Somebody had told my mom that Michael was planning on filing for divorce but that it would be better for her if she did it first. My mom told Oprah in 2010 that she made the decision to walk because she saw the drugs and the doctors coming in, and they scared her and put her right back into what she went through with her father.<\/i><\/p>\n
So, she filed. But the truth was, Michael never intended to file. It was Romeo and Juliet, the poison mistakenly drunk. Michael was incredibly hurt, and my mom tried and tried to reach him, calling and writing him. But he refused to speak to her.<\/p>\n
My mom always said that was how she learned to ice people, from Michael. Eventually, they started talking again and hanging out. They had a back-and-forth, sort of toxic relationship going on […] Their divorce was finalized in August 1996, and Michael married Debbie three months later. But we\u2019d still go to Neverland.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not really sure what the vibe was between my mother and Michael\u2014I don\u2019t know if they were still hooking up or not\u2014but we were certainly over there a lot.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
https:\/\/instagram.com\/p\/DO97Mfrifhd<\/a> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Nicolas Cage, Lisa’s 3rd Husband<\/u><\/b> <\/p>\n
Priscilla: <\/p>\n
Nick also fit Lisa\u2019s image of a man who was on the same level she was. He was successful in his own right, and heaven knows, he was strong enough for her, as would soon become apparent. <\/i><\/p>\n
I liked Nicolas Cage from the beginning […] After the Michael Jackson marriage, I was particularly sensitive to men pursuing Lisa because she was Elvis\u2019s daughter. But I never got that sense with Nick. He was clearly and passionately in love with Lisa.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Riley: <\/p>\n
My mother\u2019s relationship with Nic Cage was very short-lived. It felt like something that came in and then left, like a Florida storm\u2014and was, I think, something of a distraction from her breakup with John. She even ping-ponged between Nic and John for a minute. I remember going in her room and Nic was there one day, and then the next day it was John. She clearly couldn\u2019t make up her mind.<\/i><\/p>\n
But Nic and my mom had a ton of fun together. I don\u2019t know if they were truly in love, though she said they were.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Navarone, Priscilla\u2019s Son & Lisa’s Younger Brother<\/u><\/b> <\/p>\n
Priscilla: <\/p>\n
Like his sister before him, he was the center of my life from the day he was born. Yes, I was busy with movies and perfumes and Elvis Presley Enterprises. But nothing has ever mattered to me more than my children.<\/i><\/p>\n
[…] Navarone was more outgoing and gregarious than Lisa had ever been, and he made friends easily. His ability to make friends was hard on Lisa. When Navarone was born, Lisa adored him at first. He was a cute little baby, and she loved being his sister. But as he got older, things gradually changed. By the time he was seven or eight, she regarded him as competition. She accused me of loving him more than her, which, of course, wasn\u2019t true. I don\u2019t look that way at my babies, my children. She resented the time I spent with him <\/p>\n
[…] I took him and his cousins and friends to Disneyland and Knott\u2019s Berry Farm\u2014 all the places I\u2019d taken Lisa Marie as a kid. The problem was, she didn\u2019t remember much of that. She was always peppering me with resentful questions. \u201cDid you take me to school?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, unless I was working.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you pick me up?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, unless I was working. Remember, we used to get ice cream after school.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re always taking him to Disneyland.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI took you, too. Lots of times. Don\u2019t you remember?\u201d <\/p>\n
And so on and so on. It became exhausting. I knew she\u2019d always been possessive of me, and I was sorry she felt threatened by Navarone. But there was nothing I could do about it. They were both my children. Besides, she was an adult. It\u2019s not like they were siblings living at home and fighting over their room. Lisa was almost twenty years older than Navarone. She had her own life and her own children.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Riley: <\/p>\n
A couple of years before I was born, Priscilla had a second child, a boy named Navarone. Priscilla was a new mom again, and my mom was a new mom, so they spent a lot of time together because they both had little kids. It became a point of understanding between them, a new start, a burying of the hatchet\u2014though I know my mom was a bit jealous of Navarone, too, because here was this little boy that Priscilla just adored.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
Next up: Lisa\u2019s music career, Lisa gets married (again), and everything goes downhill for the Presley family. <\/p>\n
Sources: From Here to the Great Unknown – Lisa Marie Presley & Riley Keough (2024), Softly As I Leave You – Priscilla Presley (2025), Instagram: one<\/a>, two<\/a>, three<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n