Sarah, Duchess of York quotes Queen Elizabeth II during Lisa Marie Presley’s memorial service

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, spoke at Lisa Marie Presley‘s public memorial service yesterday (January 22) and quoted Queen Elizabeth II.

The memorial service for the late singer took place on the front lawn of the Presley family’s Graceland home and museum in Memphis, Tennessee. Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter of Elvis and sole heir to his estate, died at the age of 54 on January 12 after suffering a cardiac arrest at her Calabasas home.

It was previously announced that Presley would be buried at the Graceland site next to her son, Benjamin Keough, who died at the age of 27 in 2020. The gardens of Graceland also provide the resting place for Elvis, his parents Vernon and Gladys, and his grandmother Minnie Mae.

Speaking at the service, Ferguson paid tribute to her close friend by sharing a quote about grief from her mother-in-law Queen Elizabeth II.

“My late mother-in-law used to say that nothing (that) can be said can begin to take away the anguish and the pain of these moments because grief is the price we pay for love, and how right she was,” she said.

Ferguson then went on to read a poem called ‘A Tribute To Their Children’ by George Frost, who wrote the passage for his late father, journalist David Frost.

I say hello to you everyday and I love you my sissy and I will continue to say hello to you everyday. You were my sissy, an amazing mother to Ben, Riley, Harper and Finley and a superbly loving daughter to Priscilla. pic.twitter.com/Sp707Gob9Q

— Sarah Ferguson (@SarahTheDuchess) January 13, 2023

Other guests at the service included Alanis Morissette, Billy Corgan and Axl Rose. Rose began his tribute performance with a eulogy for his late friend.

“I do know Lisa loved her family very much, and was fiercely protective of her father and his legacy”, the Guns N’ Roses band member said. “I never in a million years imagined being here, singing under these circumstances”. Rose then performed a solo piano rendition of the 1991 Guns N’ Roses song, ‘November Rain’.

Corgan performed ‘To Sheila’, lifted from The Smashing Pumpkins’ 1998 album ‘Adore’, while Morissette was accompanied by a pianist for her tribute performance of ‘Rest’.

Alongside those appearances, Presley’s memorial service saw musical performances by the Tennessee Mass Choir and The Blackwood Brothers, the latter of whom were friends with Elvis prior to his death.

Earlier this month, John Travolta, Pink, Garbage, Diane Warren and Bette Middler were among those to pay tribute to Lisa Marie. Austin Butler, who starred as Elvis in the namesake biopic, described her as a “bright light” and remembered her for “her warmth, her love and her authenticity”.

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