Lisa Marie Presley blames herself for the death of her son Benjamin

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In an essay written before her death, Lisa Marie Presley said she blamed herself “every day” for the death of her son Benjamin Keough. Keough died by suicide in July 2020. Friends told People he suffered from depression. Presley said his son reminded him so much of his grandfather Elvis that it “actually scared him”. LoadingSomething is being loaded.

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Lisa Marie Presley has said she blames herself “every day” for the death by suicide of her son Benjamin Keough in July 2020.

In an essay written before his own death in January 2023, Presley wrote about how “painful” it is to be judged when a loved one dies “prematurely, unnaturally, or tragically,” especially if that loved one is your child. The essay was originally published in People in August 2022.

“I’m already fighting with myself and fighting relentlessly and chronically, blaming myself every day and it’s hard enough to live with,” Presley wrote. “But others will judge and blame you too, even in secret or behind your back, which is even more cruel and painful on top of everything else.”

Benjamin Keough and Lisa Marie Presley in 2010. Dave M. Benett/Getty Images

Keough died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office told Fox News in July 2020.

Days after his death, Keough’s friends spoke to People about his battle with depression and said he felt pressure from society to succeed in the entertainment industry because he was the grandson. of Elvis Presley.

“Sometimes he was battling depression, which is a serious thing with [the coronavirus pandemic] and everything that’s going on right now and everybody’s locked up at home,” Keough’s friend, musician Brandon Howard, told the magazine at the time.

Howard said he believed the pressure of being part of the Presley family “absolutely” contributed to Keough’s depression.

“It’s a difficult thing when you have a lot of pressure with your family and respecting a name and an image. It’s a lot of pressure. It’s almost like you have to be a musician, to be actor,” Howard said.

Lisa Marie with Riley, Benjamin and her half-brother Navarone Garibaldi in 2002. CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images

Keough, Presley’s oldest child with musician Danny Keough, was 27. Her sister is actor Riley Keough. Presley also shares twin daughters, Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood and Finley Aaron Love Lockwood, with her ex-husband, Michael Lockwood.

In her People essay, Presley highlighted the fact that parents who lose children are often labeled “outcasts,” but she said she understands why grieving parents quickly isolate themselves.

“If I’m being honest, I can understand why people might want to avoid you once a terrible tragedy has struck. Especially a parent who loses their child because it really is your worst nightmare,” she wrote. .

Lisa Marie Presley speaks at the TCL Chinese Theater handprint ceremony honoring her and her family. Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

Presley said she wrote the essay to encourage people to talk about grief, as it is an inevitable part of life. She said she hopes her words inspire the reader to “contact someone who needs it right now.”

The singer described her son as “the sweetest, most incredible being I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing.” She said he reminded her so much of her father Elvis “on so many levels” that he “really scared her”.

Presley died on January 12, 2023, after a suspected cardiac arrest.

“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” her mother, Priscilla Presley, said in a statement. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known.”

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