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Elvis's London visit finally comes to light
Rock'n'Roll legend Elvis Presley did in fact visit Britain, it was revealed yesterday.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:17 April 23, 2008
- Image Credit: AP
- Elvis Presley
London: Rock'n'Roll legend Elvis Presley did in fact visit Britain, it was revealed yesterday.
For more than half a century it was generally accepted the "King" only made a fleeting transit visit to Scotland in 1960 - much to the disappointment of his legion of UK fans.
But theatre producer Bill Kenwright revealed in a radio interview that Presley, then 23, managed to go sightseeing in London with Cockney singer Tommy Steele.
The pair's trip, understood to have taken place in 1958, included visits to the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace, Kenwright said. Presley did not perform.
Discreet with answers
Kenwright, who has known Steele for decades, inadvertently revealed the secret trip in a pre-recorded Radio 2 interview on Ken Bruce's show Tracks Of My Years.
At the time Presley was so popular he needed military guards to control crowds whenever he made a public appearance while Steele was billed as his British equivalent.
Steele, now 71, from Woking in Surrey, was discreet when asked yesterday to confirm the meeting.
"What actually happened many years ago is something secret and memorable," he told the Daily Mail.
"It was an event shared by two young men sharing the same love of their music and the same thrill of achieving something unimaginable.
"I swore never to divulge publicly what took place and I regret that it has found some way of 'getting into the light'.
"I can only hope he (Presley) can forgive me."
Kenwright, 62, said he accidentally revealed the secret.
"It's quite something, isn't it - the thought of them wandering around London together," he later told the newspaper.
"Tommy is a very private person who doesn't go into the past. It's only me who makes him talk about it."
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