Priscilla Presley has been a lot of things in her life. These days, at 81, she gets to be a great-grandmother.
The little girl who gave her that title is Tupelo. Her mom is Riley Keough, Elvis and Priscilla’s granddaughter and Lisa Marie’s oldest child. Her dad is Riley’s husband, Australian stuntman Ben Smith-Petersen. Tupelo was born in August 2022. Priscilla, born May 24, 1945, has now watched her family grow from Lisa Marie all the way down to Riley’s kids.
Her first name is a nod fans caught right away. Tupelo, Mississippi, is where Elvis was born. Riley told Vanity Fair in 2023, “It’s funny because we picked her name before the Elvis movie.”
In the fall of 2025, Priscilla was out promoting her memoir “Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis,” and her family came up along the way. On TODAY, she talked about the new book and her grandchildren.
Priscilla talks about her memoir and her grandchildren on TODAY
It was during that same book tour, in September 2025, that People asked Priscilla about little Tupelo.
A lot of grandparents would start with how cute the child is. Priscilla did call her “so cute.” But what she really wanted to talk about was the little girl’s personality.
Tupelo, she said, “lives in her own world.”
Then came the line that has every grandma nodding.
“She does what she wants. She rules.”
If you’ve ever had a toddler take over your living room, you know exactly the kind of little girl she’s describing. Coming from a proud great-grandma, that’s about the sweetest compliment a little one can get.
CBS Sunday Morning sat down with Priscilla about the same book, which covers her life after Elvis.
Priscilla on CBS Sunday Morning about “Softly, As I Leave You”
That People interview had a second surprise in it.
Priscilla let it slip that Riley now has two children. “She’s got an amazing husband and two great children, so I’m happy for her very much,” she said. She added, “I love her babies” and “I’m really happy for Riley.”
Riley had quietly welcomed her second child earlier in 2025. The baby’s name hasn’t been made public, and Riley keeps Tupelo’s face private, too.
Priscilla also spoke about her memoir at length with Budd Mishkin at the 92nd Street Y in New York.
Priscilla with Budd Mishkin at the 92nd Street Y
Priscilla and Riley stepped out together at the Emmys in January 2024, where Riley said, “I’m here with my grandmother and my husband.” Cameras caught the two of them arriving side by side.
Priscilla and Riley arrive together at the Emmys
In January 2026, Priscilla told HELLO!, “My granddaughter Riley and I are very close. She’s just a wonderful mother.”
Lisa Marie loved that little girl, too. Riley has written that her mom “would call Tupelo our little light.”
Now Tupelo has a baby brother or sister at home, and if Priscilla’s read on her is right, the new baby is going to find out pretty quickly who’s in charge.