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Lisa Marie Presley’s posthumous memoir reveals the extent of her grief over the death of her son Benjamin Keough.

The late singer, who was the only child of singer Elvis Presley and actress/singer Priscilla Presley, died in January last year at the age of 54.

Her daughter, actress and musician Riley Keough, has completed the book entitled From here to the great unknown – in the months after her death.

In one chapter, Presley is said to reveal that she was so heartbroken over Benjamin’s death that she kept his body in her house for two months while she considered where to bury him.

Benjamin, Riley’s younger brother, was shared by Presley and her first husband, musician Danny Keough, before their divorce in 1994. He took his own life in 2020 at the age of 27.

Page six reports that she explained how she had to force herself to “fight” to survive for the sake of her surviving children Riley, 35, and twin daughters Harper and Finley Lockwood, now 16.

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“There is no law in the state of California that says you have to bury someone immediately,” Presley wrote, revealing that she had placed her son in the bedroom of a casita – a small building separate from the main property.

“I found a very compassionate funeral home owner… She said, ‘We’ll bring Ben Ben to you.'”

Riley and her mother decided to honor Benjamin by getting tattoos to match his – he had his sister’s name written on his collarbone and his mother’s name written on his hand. They called a tattoo artist to look at Benjamin’s body so he could adjust the font and placement.

Riley reportedly writes in the memoir, “Lisa Marie Presley had just asked this poor man to look at the body of her dead son, which happened to be right next to us in the casitas.

“I’ve had an extremely absurd life, but this moment is in the top five.”

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Shortly after getting tattooed, Riley recalled, everyone felt like Benjamin wanted to be laid to rest.

“Even my mom said she could feel him talking to her, ‘This is crazy mom, what are you doing?’ What the fuck!” she wrote.

Benamin’s funeral was held in Malibu, with a ceremony led by Indian-American author Deepak Chopra. He was buried with his grandfather at Graceland; Lisa Marie was later buried next to him.

In an interview with People, Riley said her mother died of a “broken heart” after Benjamin’s death. She died a natural death; A medical examiner determined that a small intestinal obstruction was the cause of her cardiac arrest.

“My mother did her best to find strength for me and my younger sisters after Ben died, but we knew how much she was suffering,” Riley said. “My mother physically died from the after-effects of her surgery, but we all knew she died of a broken heart.”

From here to the great unknown is out now.

If you are affected by the issues discussed in this article, you can contact the following organizations for assistance: mind.org.uk, nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth, mentalhealth.org.uk, samaritans.org.