Ben Smith-Peterson 'a Total Rock' for Wife Riley Keough (EXCLUSIVE)
Riley Keough and husband Ben Smith-Peterson just celebrated ten years of happy marriage and a source exclusively tells Life & Style they’ve never been stronger and are hell-bent on putting family above all else and going out of their way not to take each other for granted.
“The last few years have been extremely tough for Riley, with her brother dying and then her mom and the issue with her grandmother over her grandfather’s estate, there was a lot of grief,” the insider says.
Benjamin Keough, Riley’s brother and the only son of Lisa Marie Presley, took his own life at age 27 in July 2020. The situation was horrifying – he was found dead with a shotgun wound and his manner of death was officially declared a suicide. The news nearly broke mom Lisa Marie, whose manager Roger Widynowski said was “heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated.”
“She adored that boy. He was the love of her life,” he added, saying she was “trying to stay strong” for her remaining three children.
However, Lisa Marie wouldn’t survive much longer. In January 2023 she died of a small bowel obstruction caused by bariatric surgery, leaving Riley, 35, alone with her two sisters, twins Finley and Harper Lockwood, who are now just 16.
Luckily, Riley has been with her supportive stuntman husband for 10 years. The source notes that with Ben, 33, “There was joy too, with the birth of their daughter Tupelo.”
“Through it all, Ben was a total rock for Riley, she couldn’t be more grateful to have him in her life,” the insider adds.
“The wonderful thing is he knew her brother really well and her mom too, so he can actually reminisce with her, that shared history when she’s lost so much of her family is priceless.”
The two met on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road, in 2012 and started their romance in his native Australia while filming reshoots for the movie. They’ve traveled the world together and become stronger ever since the tragedies that took Riley’s brother and mother.
“My husband is such a good person. He’s calm and loyal and strong and sensitive. He’s my best friend,” she gushed in a 2022 essay for Vogue Australia.
The source confirms their feelings for each other haven’t faded in the decade since they married.
“Ben is just as adoring of Riley, he feels like the luckiest guy in the world to have a wife as smart and kind and not to mention as incredibly beautiful as she is,” the insider tells.
Their weddings – they had two – were quite exceptional. First, they had a Hindu ceremony brought upon them by surprise by locals while traveling in Nepal, then another ceremony with their families in Napa Valley. Not ones to slow down, Ben is likely planning something exceptional for their aluminum anniversary.
“He wants to take her away somewhere romantic soon, so they can celebrate their 10th anniversary, probably Hawaii where they had their first honeymoon a decade ago.”