Lisa Marie Presley was Elvis Presley’s only child. She grew up at Graceland, and later she became a singer and a mom herself.
On Oprah’s show in the mid-2000s, she sat down next to her own mother, Priscilla Presley, for a talk with Oprah Winfrey. The fan site Elvis Australia later shared the conversation under the title “The Presley Women.”
The two of them were warm about each other from the start. Lisa Marie said of her mom, “She’s very poised, which is great.”
Priscilla had her own way of describing their bond. “I think I’m that sounding board for her even though she does her own thing.”
That’s a mom who knows her daughter. If you want to see the Presley women side by side with Oprah, this clip puts the three of them together.
Oprah sits down with Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley
At the time, Lisa Marie had two children. Her daughter Riley was born in 1989 and her son Ben in 1992.
So Oprah asked her something most parents never have to answer out loud, let alone on national TV.
“When you look at yourself as a mother, where would you rate yourself? Scale 1 to 10.”
A lot of people would laugh and change the subject. Others would say 10 just to be safe. Lisa Marie gave a real number.
“An 8.”
Oprah didn’t take that as a bad grade at all. “I think 8 is about as good as you can do!”
Lisa Marie didn’t say why she landed on 8. She just said it.
Oprah’s next question was a good one. “What do you think you’re best at as a mother?”
This time Lisa Marie didn’t have to think about it. “Just overwhelming them with affection and love.”
She made it sound like her kids could hardly get a breath. “They need to push me off of them constantly …” And then, simply: “I’m crazy about them and they know it.”
Oprah also got a look inside Graceland, and it was Lisa Marie who showed her around her dad’s house.
Lisa Marie shows Oprah around Graceland
A fan channel in Brazil shared another version of the Graceland visit, labeled as 2006, so you can follow along as Lisa Marie plays host.
More of Lisa Marie’s Graceland tour with Oprah
Lisa Marie also talked about what her kids saw when they watched her. “I’m not happy unless I’m helping other people. And they watch me and they see that.”
They did watch. Riley grew up to be an actress and a mom, and she has spoken about raising her own kids the way her mom raised her.
Vogue once caught three generations of the family together, with Priscilla sharing a special moment with Lisa Marie and Riley.
Priscilla, Lisa Marie and Riley share a moment
An 8 might sound modest for a mom who talked about her kids like that. Then again, Oprah thought it was about as good as anyone can do, and plenty of parents reading this would probably give themselves the same number.
In the notes for her CD, Lisa Marie wrote that she, Elvis and Priscilla were an “eternal unit, never broken.” She carried that same feeling into raising Riley and Ben, with all the hugs they could stand and then some.