Priscilla Presley’s side of the bed was still warm when Elvis Presley moved Linda Thompson into Graceland in 1972. Despite her dad scoring a new girlfriend before her parents’ divorce was finalized, Lisa Marie Presley’s relationship with her father was super close. And unlike many kids who struggle with a parent’s new partner, Lisa Marie’s relationship with Thompson blossomed immediately.
“When Lisa was a little girl, I played Santa Claus to her four times at Christmas, and I was the Easter bunny on Easter, hiding eggs around Graceland. We took golf cart rides together, and Elvis trusted me and my love for her enough that he let me drive her to the movies and to visit my family,” Thompson told People. After she and Elvis split in 1976, Thompson remained close to Lisa Marie. She shared in her memoir that she’d “learned to love [her] deeply” over the years and that they spoke regularly.
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Thompson offered her love and support to Lisa Marie after she lamented on Instagram that her son, Benjamin Keough, wasn’t still alive to see the biopic Baz Lurhman made about his grandfather. “You are forever in my heart and soul — right alongside your dad,” Thompson wrote. “You have suffered such a profound tragedy and loss… One that no parent should ever experience. My heart hurts for you. I love you always and forever…I have from the first moment I met you.”
