Fans Upset Over Auction of Elvis Presley’s Planes, Priscilla Presley Fights Back
Elvis Presley fans are all shook up over the upcoming auction of the King’s private jets, and his ex-wife Priscilla Presley is fighting back against the bad publicity.
As the Inquisitr reported on January 2, Presley’s former planes, dubbed the “Lisa Marie” and “Hound Dog II,” are undergoing a private, sealed auction between now and February 2. The Elvis jets are being auctioned off by Julien’s Auctions as a package, and they are expected to fetch over $10 million.
The two planes have been on display for tourists and fans at Graceland for more than 30 years, though Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE) does not own either “Lisa Marie” or “Hound Dog II.” A group known as OKC Partnerships in Memphis owns the planes, and they have an agreement with EPE to split revenue generated from tickets to tour the jets in exchange for EPE agreeing to host the planes across the street from Graceland on their property. That agreement ends in April, 2015, and the two companies have been unable to reach an agreement to extend the contract. EPE wrote a letter to the planes’ owners last summer telling them to prepare to remove Elvis’ former jets from the property.
Elvis originally purchased the jets in 1975. The “Hound Dog II,” the smaller of the two airliners, was originally used for Elvis to taxi back and forth between his hometown of Memphis and Texas to check on the customization work on the “Lisa Marie.” Elvis paid a reported $900,000 to turn the former Delta airliner into his own flying Graceland.
On Saturday, Presley’s ex-wife Priscilla took to Facebook to fight back against the bad publicity the auction is bringing to Elvis Presley Enterprises and Graceland.
“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.
A quote Elvis stated many times:
“Don’t criticize what you don’t understand, son… you never walked in that man’s shoes.”
I state my case.”
Priscilla wasn’t the only Presley family member to make their voice heard on the internet concerning this issue. Elvis’ only child, Lisa Marie Presley, wrote the following on Twitter.
We have not owned the planes for years. We have leased it, It is the owners who are doing all of this to try and get more money. #Greed
— Lisa Marie Presley (@LisaPresley) January 3, 2015
The winning bidder will have the option to purchase land adjacent to Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion to continue displaying the two jets.
[Photo via TIME]
