For Elvis 80th birthday, his family turned out to brave the cold in Memphis, Tennessee. Priscilla Presley was joined by her daughter Lisa Marie Presley, as well as her grandchildren, to celebrate with Elvis fans at Graceland.
It was 16 degrees outside as fans followed the traditional birthday procession through Graceland. But when Priscilla and Lisa Marie got ready to cut the birthday cake outside, they ran into a little problem: the cake had nearly frozen solid in the freezing temperatures. Priscilla and Lisa Marie sawed at the first piece, which finally broke away and tumbled toward the ground as fans gasped. Lisa Marie managed to catch it and offered a bite to her mother.
Soon thereafter, the Presleys and their brood headed to inside shelter out of the cold.
Priscilla Presley caught flak from Elvis fans this week when it was announced that a pair of fan favorites are being sold. Two of Elvis’ jets, which have long been a part of the Graceland tour, are being put up for sale. Fans of The King took to social media and comment sections to excoriate Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley for the move.
Oddly, the sale of the planes is not new news. It was announced back in July that it would happen. Perhaps the usual increase in Elvis news around his January birthday caused the story to resurface, inflaming fans who had not heard it the first time around.
What these folks did not realize is that the sale was not up to Priscilla or Lisa Marie. They don’t own the planes, and haven’t since just after Elvis died in 1977.
The Jets, known as the Lisa Marie and the Hound Dog II, are owned by OKC Partnership. They are displayed on Graceland property by lease agreement. Apparently an agreement about terms of the lease, including how tickets would be sold to the attraction, was not reached between Core Media, which owns Graceland and is managed by Lisa Marie Presley, and OKC.
According to reports, OKC wanted to unbundle the ticket sales for the jets from the rest of the Graceland tour, which Core would not agree to. So Core told OKC to remove the jets if an agreement could not be reached. This would apparently hurt OKC much more than Graceland, as people would continue to visit Graceland with or without the jets on the tour. OKC then announced it would sell them instead. Priscilla says they announced this to anger fans.
When fans lit into Lisa Maria again recently, Priscilla came out swinging. Posting to Facebook:
“It’s very disheartening and unsettling that you point your fingers at my daughter, Jack Soden, EPE as a whole, our partners and myself as the blame for the sale of the planes. Do you honestly think we want them sold? Have you never thought that the owners are the culprits? That perhaps THEY are greedy, unwilling to be fair, or are being TOTALLY unreasonable? Shame on you for using threats of not going to Graceland or that we’re going to lose loyal fans. Or asking what’s next? Putting your two cents on an issue you know nothing of the DETAILS is quite disturbing. This is a business matter that needs good common sense and good business sense that anyone in our position needs to apply.”
She then went on to quote Elvis himself:
“Don’t criticize what you don’t understand, son… you never walked in that man’s shoes.”
