The Presley estate’s 1.5 million artefacts have been curated down into about 450 pieces on display here, with jumpsuits, cars, contracts, an immersive concert film room and all kinds of other King-related delights. You can see, for example, the Western Union Telegram that Elvis sent to Colonel Tom Parker in response to the impressively lucrative deal he had secured for the ’68 Comeback Special. “Dear Colonel,” it reads. “Is that the best you could do? Yours, Elvis…”For the Elvis obsessive, a ‘white glove’ experience allows you to actually lay hands on items like the diamond, ruby and sapphire-adorned World Championship belt Presley was awarded having played 57 Vegas shows in 28 days, which he wore to meet Richard Nixon at the White House (careful with it though: it’s valued at $500,000)
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 I would like to welcome you to Direct from Graceland Elvis.
00:13 It's a very unique exhibition that was curated by myself
00:17 and brought all the way from Memphis here to central London
00:20 for the fans to enjoy.
00:22 We have everything from early stuff
00:24 from when he was born in Tupelo, through his fantastic jumpsuits
00:28 and amazing concert performances.
00:30 And of course, there's a huge section of Elvis fashion,
00:33 because who had a better closet than Elvis Presley?
00:35 Everything from faux fur jackets to gold pieces.
00:39 And then there's things like the tan jacket
00:41 from Viva Las Vegas.
00:42 After the success of the Elvis film,
00:44 we worked really closely with Baz and Warner Brothers
00:47 to be able to curate and making up the movie exhibit
00:50 that we have at Graceland.
00:52 One outfit that has never been displayed at Graceland
00:54 is the black leather suit that Austin
00:56 wore for the '68 comeback.
00:58 Probably my personal favorite item that we have here
01:02 is Elvis' wallet.
01:03 I can remember when we first found it in the archives.
01:05 As soon as you open it up, the first thing that was in there
01:07 was a picture of him and Lisa.
01:09 And so it's so personal.
01:11 We have several items that are from Elvis' bedroom upstairs,
01:15 including the gold phone that was by his bedside.
01:18 There also is a statue of Jesus that sits by Elvis' bed.
01:22 The cars are from Elvis' garage.
01:25 We have brought the MG that was in the movie "Blue Hawaii."
01:27 And then the Ferrari.
01:29 Elvis used to drive this Ferrari up and down Elvis Presley
01:31 Boulevard at all hours of the night.
01:33 The white glove experience that we are doing here
01:36 at the exhibition is a really unique experience
01:39 to be able to interact with a few of the items
01:42 that we have on display.
01:43 One is the gold microphone that he wore in Vegas in 1969.
01:48 And then the gold belt that he was given
01:51 by the International Hotel.
01:53 He wore it in press conferences.
01:55 He wore it with jumpsuits.
01:56 He even wore it in the Oval Office
01:58 when he met President Nixon.
01:59 We know not everyone is ever going to have
02:01 a chance to go to Graceland.
02:02 So this was our opportunity to bring a little bit of Graceland
02:05 here.
02:06 Elvis is in the building.
02:07 And he is going to be here until April.
02:10 And I'm hoping that all the fans in the UK
02:13 take away something that they didn't know about Elvis before.
02:17 And they are the hugest Elvis fans that possibly could be.
02:22 [BLANK_AUDIO]