NEW YORK (AP):

Lisa Marie Presley wanted to keep her pregnancy private, but felt she had to say something when photos of her looking heavier were ridiculed in the news media.

"After being the target all week of slanderous and degrading stories, horribly manipulated pictures and articles in the media, I have had to show my cards and announce under the gun and under vicious personal attack that I am in fact pregnant," the 40-year-old singer wrote on her MySpace page.

Due next fall

Presley and her husband, music producer Michael Lockwood, are expecting a baby next fall, her spokeswoman, Cindy Guagenti, said Friday. It will be the third child for Presley, who has two children from her marriage to ex-husband Danny Keough.

The announcement comes several days after photos of Presley - daughter of Elvis Presley and actress Priscilla - eating lunch in Los Angeles made the media rounds, with the London newspaper The Daily Mail asking: "Like father like daughter? Bloated Lisa Marie is now the double of dad Elvis."

Guagenti told The Associated Press: "I mean, if you read some of the stories it's like, 'she's gonna die like her father,' 'her and her mom are in a fight because of her weight' - that's not true at all. It's just awful stuff."

Presley, who was once married to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage, said she was "seething" over speculation on her weight gain.