Fans paid their respects at Graceland’s gates on Friday, writing messages on the stone wall, leaving flowers and sharing memories of Elvis Presley’s only child, who was one of the last remaining touchstones to the icon whose influence and significance still resonates more than 45 years after his own sudden death.
Angela Ferraro was among those on Thursday night who stopped by Graceland, where the trees in the front lawn were adorned by green and red lights. Fans took photos and left flowers at the front gate on the chilly and windy evening.
A representative from Elvis Presley Enterprises told The Associated Press that the mansion is in a trust that will go to the benefit of her children — she’s survived by three daughters. The representative did not have details on the timing of a funeral or burial.
Lisa Marie visited Graceland in 2012 to attend the opening of a new exhibit, “Elvis Through His Daughter’s Eyes,” a personal look that included her baby shoes — her birth, nine months exactly after Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s wedding, was international news — as well as her first record player and a small white fur coat.
About an hour and a half later, Vance heard about Lisa Marie’s death; the mood at The Guest House at Graceland, the hotel where she is staying, became somber. Vance, who decided to stop in Memphis while moving from Mississippi to California, said it was “surreal” that she was at Graceland on the day Lisa Marie died.
Kristen Sainato and her husband were visiting Memphis from Cleveland when she heard the news of Lisa Marie’s death on Thursday. She wore a black jacket with the well-known TCB lightning bolt (shorthand for taking care of business in a flash, a motto Elvis lived by) on the back as she described meeting Lisa Marie at a celebration of her father’s birthday. Sainato set down a bouquet of flowers at the front gate of Graceland, where one of two planes is named for Lisa Marie.
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