Lisa Marie Presley: Her Loves and Her Losses

With the death of Michael Jackson, and all the talk about Lisa Marie Presley's marriage to him, I thought it was an opportune time to tell you a little about Lisa Marie. Lisa Marie feels her marriage to Jackson was a huge failure. That may be true, but I don't know how many of us would fault her for getting out of the marriage. It was only one of many of her failures.

When Elvis married Priscilla the dreams of millions of young girls died. The King of Rock-N-Roll had his Queen. On February 1, 1968 they got their Princess - Lisa Marie was born. The little girl was doted on by her famous dad. He dressed her in fur coats and gave her jewels and he got her a golf cart so she could ride around Graceland. He even named his airplane after her.

When Elvis and Priscilla divorced Lisa Marie split her time between both parents. It is possible that some of Lisa Marie's problems started early on because of Priscilla's boyfriend at the time - Michael Edwards. He made advances toward Lisa Marie when Priscilla wasn't around. When Priscilla and Michael split up he published a book and gave details of his lust for Lisa Marie. She started taking drugs at age 14 and was thrown out of boarding schools and alternative schools. She was not a happy living with her mother or living away from her. She just wasn't happy.

She was a very busy girl when it came to men and marriages.

#1 Marriage - At twenty she married her musician boyfriend Danny Keough. They dated for three years prior to their wedding. They had two children together, Danielle Riley and Benjamin Storm

#1 Divorce - In April 1994, Presley announced that she and Keough were separating, but would remain on good terms for their children. Later that month, she flew to the Dominican Republic for a quick divorce. In the years since their divorce, Presley and Keough have remained friends and even written some songs together. Keough lives on the same property as Lisa Marie in the guest house.

#2 Marriage - Twenty days after her divorce from Keough, Presley married Michael Jackson. They had first met when 7-year-old Presley attended several of his shows in Las Vegas. When they met again as adults, "things moved very quickly", with Jackson proposing over the telephone after four months. They stayed in contact every day over the telephone. As child molestation accusations became public, Jackson became dependent on Lisa Marie for emotional support; she was concerned about his faltering health and his addiction to drugs. Lisa Marie believed he didn't do anything wrong, that he was wrongly accused. That was when she started falling for him. She told people she wanted to save him.

Shortly after she tried to persuade Jackson to settle the allegations out of court and go into rehabilitation to recover, which he subsequently did. In 1995, she appeared in nothing but a towel around her waist in the music video for his song "You Are Not Alone". In the video they kissed and hugged, it was one of the few instances where their affection for one another was seen in public view. She said the marriage was "a married couple's life... that was sexually active".

#2 Divorce - She filed for divorce in January 1996, but the couple remained friendly. In 2005, Presley was considered as a witness for Jackson's trial after he had been charged with child molestation. They took Presley out of context reporting that she had said "I saw things I couldn't do anything about". Presley then released a statement saying that she never saw her then-husband engage in improper behavior with children.

- Presley was engaged in 2000 to rocker John Oszaica but broke it off after meeting Nicolas Cage at a party.

#3 Marriage/#3 Divorce - Presley's relationship with Cage was on and off from the beginning. They were married on August 10, 2002, in Hawaii, 10 days after he proposed. An avid Elvis fan, Cage is the only person outside the Presley family to have been allowed to see Elvis' bedroom at Graceland. He filed for divorce. The divorce proceeding lasted longer than the marriage.

#4 Marriage - Presley married Michael Lockwood January 22, 2006. Lockwood was her guitarist, music producer, director. Keough served as best man at the couple's wedding which was held in Japan. Priscilla Presley walked her down the aisle. In March 2008, Presley announced that she was pregnant, following speculation over her apparent weight gain.

October 7, 2008, at age 40, Lisa Marie gave birth to fraternal twin girls, who weighed in at about 5 pounds each. Their names are Harper and Finley Lockwood.

Lisa Marie has no financial worries. When she turned 25 she chose to form The Elvis Presley Trust and she continues the management of the estate. Her mother and the National Bank of Commerce serve as co-trustees.

In 1998, Lisa Marie worked even closer with the management team of The Elvis Presley Trust and its business entity, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. (EPE). She was owner and Chairman of the Board until February 2005. She sold 85 percent of the estate's business holdings. That sale did not include Graceland itself or the property within it.

Lisa Marie, you need to forgive yourself. You are not responsible for Michael Jackson's life or his death.

PS: There was only one King, your dad.