August 1977 in Memphis was a swamp. The heat didn't just sit on you; it pressed down, thick and wet, making every breath feel like a chore. For Priscilla Presley, the atmosphere inside Graceland was even more suffocating. She wasn't just a grieving ex-wife; she was the woman the world was watching to see how a "queen" handles the death of a King.
Honestly, the sheer scale of the chaos is hard to wrap your head around if you weren't there. Imagine 80,000 people screaming, crying, and fainting outside your front door while you're trying to figure out how to tell a nine-year-old girl her father is gone.
The Call That Changed Everything
Priscilla was in Los Angeles when the news broke. It wasn't a gentle heads-up. Joe Esposito, Elvis’s right-hand man and road manager, called her in a state of total emotional collapse. He basically blurted out, "Cilla, Elvis is dead."
She didn't believe it. Who would? She actually thought he was joking because that’s the kind of dark humor they shared. But the silence on the other end of the line was too heavy. When the reality hit, Priscilla reportedly locked herself in her bedroom. She stayed there for hours, paralyzed. Joe eventually sent the private plane to get her.
By the time she landed in Memphis, the city had transformed into a shrine.
Priscilla Presley at Elvis Funeral: A Private Hell in Public
People often forget that by 1977, Priscilla and Elvis had been divorced for four years. Yet, in the eyes of the "Memphis Mafia" and the fans, she was still the matriarch.
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When she walked into Graceland, the house was a mess of "crowds of strangers." That’s how she described it in her recent memoir, Softly, as I Leave You: Life After Elvis. Imagine trying to mourn in your own living room while a line of thousands of people—literally thousands—shuffles past an open casket just a few feet away.
The Scene Inside the Music Room
The public viewing was a circus. President Jimmy Carter actually had to call in the Air National Guard to help the local police because things were getting so out of hand. People were fainting from the heat and the sheer emotion of seeing Elvis in that seamless copper coffin.
Priscilla sat on the couch in the living room, flanked by Elvis’s father, Vernon, and a shell-shocked Lisa Marie. She later described herself as feeling "numb." There was no room for her own grief yet because she was too busy being the pillar for everyone else.
- The Private Moment: Priscilla and Lisa Marie waited until the crowds were cleared to finally say their goodbyes.
- The Last Kiss: In her writings, Priscilla mentions that she and Lisa each kissed him one last time. That was the moment it finally felt real. He wasn't a "force of nature" anymore; he was just gone.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Procession
If you've seen the grainy footage of the 49-car funeral procession, you know how haunting it looks. White limos stretching as far as the eye can see. Priscilla was in one of the lead cars, staring out the tinted windows at fans who were literally hysterical.
Some people think the funeral was a quiet, dignified affair. It wasn't. It was loud. There were helicopters hovering so low the noise drowned out the prayers. You had celebrities like Ann-Margret and Burt Reynolds trying to slip in unnoticed (Reynolds reportedly arrived in a bread truck to avoid the press).
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The Security Nightmare
The tension was terrifying. At one point, a car plowed into a group of fans outside the gates, killing two young women. Inside the limo, Priscilla was watching a tragedy happen inside a tragedy.
She's spoken about the "carnival atmosphere" that started to take over. While she was trying to bury the father of her child, people were outside selling Elvis mementos and "souvenir" flowers stolen from the graveside. It was a weird, messy collision of genuine heartbreak and tacky commercialism.
The Secret Battle for Control
Behind the scenes, the drama didn't stop at the cemetery. While Priscilla was mourning, the wheels were already turning regarding Elvis’s estate.
Vernon Presley was the executor, but he was in failing health. There has been a lot of talk lately—some of it fueled by messy lawsuits—about how Priscilla positioned herself during those funeral days. Critics claim she was already looking at the books, but those close to her say she was just trying to keep the walls from caving in. Graceland was hemorrhaging money. The lawyers wanted to sell it.
Priscilla’s response? "That will never happen."
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She basically saved Graceland during the most traumatic week of her life. She turned a "family shrine" into a business because, frankly, that was the only way to keep the house for Lisa Marie.
The Lingering "Ghost" of the Funeral
Even decades later, Priscilla talks about that day like it happened yesterday. She once told Today that she still sees the faces of the people lining the streets.
There’s a reason she recently fought to be buried near him at Graceland (a request that was initially denied during trust negotiations with her granddaughter, Riley Keough). For Priscilla, the funeral wasn't an ending. It was the start of a lifelong job as the keeper of the flame.
What We Can Learn From That Day
Grief is messy, especially when it’s televised. Priscilla’s experience at the funeral shows a few things about handling a high-profile loss:
- Prioritize the children: Her main focus was keeping Lisa Marie grounded while the world outside was screaming.
- Establish boundaries: Waiting for the "private" moment to say goodbye was the only thing that kept her sane.
- Think long-term: Even in shock, she knew she had to protect Elvis's legacy from the people who wanted to liquidate it.
If you ever find yourself in Memphis, go to the Meditation Garden at Graceland. Look at the space where the funeral ended. It’s quiet now, but if you listen to Priscilla’s accounts, you can almost hear the helicopters and the 80,000 voices still calling his name.
To get a better sense of the logistics that day, you might want to look into the 1977 news archives from the Memphis Police Department, which detail the unprecedented security measures Priscilla helped coordinate. Or, check out the 2025 updated edition of her memoir for more specific details on the "Music Room" conversations that never made it into the tabloids.