Elvis’ Maid Said Lisa Marie Presley Didn’t Like Spending the Night at Graceland After Elvis’ Death

After Elvis Presley’s death, his daughter Lisa Marie continued to spend time at Graceland. It remained in the family, and several of her relatives still lived on the property. Still, she reportedly did not like to spend the night in the home after her father’s death. A longtime Graceland maid, Nancy Rooks, shared why she thought Lisa Marie wanted to sleep elsewhere.

Elvis Presley’s maid said Lisa Marie Presley rarely spent the night at Graceland

After Elvis died in 1977, Lisa Marie continued to visit Graceland. She didn’t seem as comfortable at the home as she’d been when her father was alive, though.

“After her father died, Lisa, when she would come back to Memphis, did not like spending the night at Graceland,” Rooks wrote in her book Inside Graceland: Elvis’ Maid Remembers. “She would usually end up spending the nights at her cousin Patsy’s house. There were several reasons for that.”

Rooks said that Lisa Marie did not get along that well with her Aunt Delta, who helped run Graceland. She’d also heard something while sleeping there that had frightened her.

“She and a friend of hers had spent the night in Aunt Delta’s room, (Aunt Delta was away), and they had been awakened in the middle of the night by noises outside the bedroom window,” Rooks explained. “We never did figure out if it was really something that they heard or if they had imagined it, but, in any case, it left a lasting impression on Lisa and she did not like to stay at the house after that.”

Rooks thought being in Graceland made Lisa Marie uncomfortable after Elvis’ death.

“I also think that she did not feel comfortable in the house after Elvis died,” she wrote. “It was such a shame, because she had enjoyed it so much growing up there. I noticed a change in her, however, whenever she came to the house after his passing … I think that just knowing that her father had died up there was too much for her. I guess it would be for most children her age.”

Lisa Marie Presley used her relationship with Elvis to influence Graceland staff

Though Lisa Marie didn’t feel all that comfortable at Graceland after Elvis’ death, she had been running the house since she was a toddler. According to Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie used Elvis’ name to bend Graceland staff to her will.

“By the time Lisa was four, she realized she could manipulate the help,” Priscilla wrote in her book Elvis and Me. “Whenever one of them refused to do something for her, she’d threaten, ‘I’m gonna tell my daddy and you’re going to get fired.'”

Priscilla scolded her young daughter whenever she saw her acting this way.

“‘You don’t treat people that way,'” I told her. ‘It’s abusive. Yes, they work for your father. But you don’t go around threatening them.'” 

Nancy Rooks watched Lisa Marie mature as she grew older

Priscilla said Lisa Marie took years to break the habit of bossing around Graceland staff. Still, Rooks said Lisa Marie began to mature in the time she knew her.

“Under all the mischievous charm, Lisa was turning into a sweet little girl,” she wrote. “Considering who she was and the power she wielded as the daughter of Elvis Presley, she could at times be very affectionate with those around her, and had a particular fondness for [her great-grandmother] Minnie Mae.”

After her grandfather and great-grandmother’s deaths, Lisa Marie became the sole heir of Graceland.