Priscilla Presley is reportedly doing whatever she can to make sure her daughter Lisa Marie does not suffer a similar fate to her father, Elvis Presley.
With her father famously dying an early, drug-related death, a new report claims Priscilla is worried about the possibility of her daughter relapsing as she begins to open up about her problems with addiction.
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Radar Online reports that new stories about Lisa Marie’s past have left her mother concerned.
“Elvis’ death still pierces her heart more than 40 years later — and she will do everything in her power to ensure history does not repeat itself,” said a source close to the family.
Elvis passed away in August 1977 from a heart attack, believed to be prompted by his use of drugs.
Lisa Marie, whose ongoing divorce and finance troubles have made headlines in recent weeks, opened up about her problems with addiction in a foreword for the book The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation in Pain by Harry Nelson.
“Priscilla has worried about Lisa Marie her whole life,” the Radar source added. “Growing up in America’s most famous family means people have been trying to lead her astray since she was a child.”
“She’s been around rockers, druggies and weirdos for decades, but it was only when she was in her 40s that she started abusing prescription meds and drinking too much — and it made Priscilla sick,” they added.
Lisa Marie began her essay saying she is “grateful to be alive today” after dealing with her addiction problems.
“You may read this and wonder how, after losing people close to me, I also fell prey to opioids,” the 51-year-old wrote, whose father had an opioid addiction and ex-husband Michael Jackson died of an overdose.
She continued, “I was recovering after the [2008] birth of my daughters, Vivienne and Finley, when a doctor prescribed me opioids for pain. It only took a short-term prescription of opioids in the hospital for me to feel the need to keep taking them.”
She described it in the foreword as “a difficult path to overcome this dependence, and to put my life back together. Even in recent years, I have seen too many people I loved struggle with addiction and die tragically from this epidemic. It is time for us to say goodbye to shame about addiction. We have to stop blaming and judging ourselves and the people around us… That starts with sharing our stories.”
She further admitted she was hesitant of writing about her issues.
“I had never openly spoken in public about my own addiction to opioids and painkillers,” she wrote. “I wasn’t sure that I was ready to share on such a personal topic.”
Lisa Marie filed for divorce in one 2016 from her fourth husband, Michael Lockwood. Their daughters were placed under Priscilla’s care back when Lisa Marie first entered treatment at a rehab facility. She now maintains she is sober and “trying to put my life back together.”
