Why is Priscilla Presley battling Riley Keough? Family feud explored as legal battle intensifies following Lisa Marie Presley’s death

American actress Priscilla Presley's legal battle with her granddaughter Riley Keough has intensified after a recent court hearing surrounding the custody of Lisa Marie Presley and her ex-husband Michael Lockwood.

Earlier this week, via a zoom call, Lockwood, who shared twin girls Harper and Finley with Lisa Marie, was granted full custody of the kids after the latter passed away in January 2023.

Lisa Marie was entangled in a seven-year-long battle with Lockwood before her untimely death. As per the New Zealand Herald, Priscilla Presley did not seem to counter the court's decision, as she did not object.

According to the Daily Mail, Keough is "angry" about the legal ruling, and Priscilla's choice not to voice her disapproval only deepens the existing dispute over Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion.

Keough was said to have supported her mother's side during the unpleasant divorce and custody fight and thinks the court decision means she is "losing" her step-sisters to an "outsider."

Priscilla had also aggravated Keough following Lisa Marie's death, as she allegedly traveled to the 54-year-old's burial with Lockwood regardless of Keough making it evident that he was not invited.

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Brief background on Priscilla Presley and Riley Keough's dispute

Priscilla Presley and Riley Keough's dispute began soon after Lisa Marie Presley passed away on January 12, 2023. Tensions have risen as to who should and shouldn't be a trustee of the Graceland mansion, which is now under the name of Riley. Lisa Marie was named one of the beneficiaries, alongside Vernon Presley, after Elvis Presley died in 1977. Vernon died two years later, and Lisa Marie inherited the whole property.

However, she was only 11 at the time, so Vernon named Priscilla alongside their family's longtime accountant, Joseph Hanks, and the National Bank of Commerce in Memphis as the co-executors of the estate. The trio controlled the estate until Lisa turned 25, after which she would become the sole beneficiary.

According to The New York Times, in 1993 after Lisa turned 25, she formed the Promenade Trust with Priscilla Presley and Barry Siegel, the family's business manager, as trustees. The news outlet also reported that Lisa Marie changed her living trust in 2016 to name Riley and Benjamin Keough as co-trustees in the aftermath of her death, as both children were now adults. Lisa Marie thereby replaced her mother and Siegel as trustees.

Later, in 2020, Benjamin died by suicide, leaving Riley as the sole heir of the trust after the singer's death.

After Lisa Marie's death on January 12 due to cardiac arrest, things began declining.

The New York Times reported that Priscilla sought the LA Superior Court to investigate the "authenticity and validity" of her 2016 trust change two weeks after Lisa Marie's death. In the court filing, Priscilla Presley's lawyers argued that the alteration in the estate papers was invalid because she was not informed about it while the Lights Out singer was alive and that it may be fake due to apparent signing differences.

Recently, news outlet Marca reported that Riley Keough, who is not seeing Priscilla "eye to eye," changed the locks of the Graceland mansion, which has locked the former actress outside of the estate.