Lisa Marie Presley Kept Son Benjamin’s Body at Home on Dry Ice for 2 Months After His Death
Lisa Marie Presley’s decision to keep her son Benjamin’s body at home for two months after his death is a revelation that has stunned many. In her memoir, , she reveals the intimate and heart-wrenching details of her grieving process—a journey that left the world both shocked and in awe of a mother's enduring love.
When Lisa Marie Presley tragically lost her son Benjamin to suicide in 2020, her world was shattered. For Lisa Marie, saying goodbye to her 27-year-old son wasn’t just about arranging a funeral; it was about holding on to every possible moment she could have with him. In her newly released memoir, which her daughter Riley Keough helped complete after Lisa Marie’s own death in 2023, the raw and emotional story unfolds.
“I got so used to him, caring for him and keeping him there. I think it would scare the living f—ing p— out of anybody else to have their son there like that. But not me,” Lisa Marie confessed, highlighting her struggle to let go. She chose to keep Benjamin’s body at home on dry ice, creating a space where she could grieve in her own way, on her own terms.
The decision to keep Benjamin’s body at home draws a poignant parallel to how Lisa Marie said her final goodbye to her own father, Elvis Presley, when she was just nine years old. Back in 1977, Elvis's body was displayed in an open casket at Graceland, allowing family and fans alike to pay their respects over two days.
It’s clear that this deeply personal experience with grief influenced her approach when it came time to part with her son.
According to Riley Keough, Lisa Marie wanted to ensure that she had ample time to say goodbye to Benjamin, just as she had done with her father. "She knew she needed that time, to let it sink in," Riley wrote, capturing the depth of her mother's sorrow and the importance of those final moments.
To make this extended goodbye possible, Lisa Marie worked with a funeral home to preserve Benjamin’s body using dry ice, keeping the room at a steady 55 degrees. This unconventional choice allowed her to delay the burial as she struggled with the decision of where to lay her son to rest.
Her actions were not just about preserving his body; they were about preserving the connection she still felt as a mother.
“I felt so fortunate that there was a way that I could still parent him, delay it a bit longer so that I could become okay with laying him to rest,” Lisa Marie explained. Her words paint a picture of a mother desperate to hold on to her role, to keep caring for her son even in the most impossible circumstances.
In a deeply personal tribute to Benjamin, Lisa Marie and her daughter Riley went one step further to keep his memory alive. Before Benjamin was laid to rest at Graceland, they decided to get tattoos of his name on their bodies in the exact spots where Benjamin had once tattooed their names. To ensure precision, they even brought the tattoo artist to see Benjamin’s body.
Riley described it as one of the most surreal moments of her life—a moment that seemed absurd yet filled with a bittersweet sense of love and remembrance.
"All of us felt that vibe from my brother that he didn’t want his body in this house anymore," Riley shared, hinting at the family’s emotional turning point when they finally knew it was time to let him go.
In the end, Lisa Marie decided to bury Benjamin at Graceland, the same place where her father, Elvis Presley, was laid to rest. Less than three years later, when Lisa Marie passed away in 2023, she was buried beside her son, symbolically reuniting with both the men she had loved and lost. This act of placing her own body next to Benjamin’s at the Presley family estate was her final gesture of love, ensuring they would be together for eternity.
The revelation of how Lisa Marie handled Benjamin’s death has sparked a wide range of reactions. While some people are bewildered by her choice to keep his body at home, others understand the depth of her grief and the need for an extended farewell. It’s a polarizing story that speaks to the intense love and pain that only a parent who has lost a child can truly understand.
Lisa Marie Presley's story has touched hearts and stirred debates around the globe. What do you think about her decision to keep her son’s body at home for two months? Was it a moving display of a mother’s love or a controversial choice that’s hard to understand? We’d love to hear your thoughts and feelings on this deeply emotional topic.
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