PRISCILLA PRESLEY 'ELVIS FEARED HE WOULD BE FORGOTTEN'

DESPITE HIS ICON STATUS, THE KING BELIEVED HE'D FADE INTO OBSCURITY

- Paul Ewart

AIthough almost 45 years have passed since the world lost Elvis Presley, his legacy is bigger than ever. The driving force behind it all? His ex-wife, Priscilla, who has dedicated her life to preserving the “The King's memory.

"Elvis at one time felt that he would be forgotten," Priscilla tells New Idea exclusively during her recent trip to Australia. “He didn't get to tour a lot of the places that he wanted to go, [and] Australia was one of them."

Down Under to open the Elvis: Direct from Graceland exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery in country Victoria, Priscilla has overseen the temporary relocation of more than 300 artefacts from the late performer's private and professional life.

“It gives me chills, seeing it all laid out like this," she admits. “Walking around the exhibition, I got a little I teary-eyed, actually. I'm still touched by it all ... even after all this time.

“I want to share these things, because I want people to know who Elvis was, how he lived, what he bought, what was given to him ... his favourite things. It'll be so exciting for audiences to share his life and everything he did.”

Although Elvis was known for his opulence and extravagance, Priscilla reveals that her ex, who she divorced in 1973, wasn't materialistic.

"Things didn't mean that much to Elvis,” she says. “He would give them away in an instant if someone liked them. He was a very giving person and he would really give the shirt off his back.