Priscilla To Be Honored

Surely to receive an honour your first have to do something special!!!!!!!

How about being smart enough to hire good people to turn EPE into the mega money machine it is today. As a fan, I think that is pretty special. How about being Elvis' only wife and mother of his only child....

Steve B - I agree. Fans love to bash Priscilla and I never could understand what she did to deserve that. How about an award just for bucking the Colonel when she had to. That's enough reason. She may not be talented but she was a lot smarter than anyone in the Presley family including Elvis himself when it came to business!

I agree with both Steve's on this matter, people just love to tear into Priscilla. Perhaps it is still because she dared divorce a husband that was unfaithful every moment her back was turned. Anybody that thinks she has done nothing should check out the many charities she supports, as well as making EPE what it is today and allowing us all the opportunity to visit Graceland.

I couldn't care less....

I don´t think the divorce is the reason that a lot of the fans dislikes Priscilla. I am pretty sure about that. Look at Linda Thompson, she left Elvis too, but is always mentioned with respect among fans. Yes, they were never married, but the consequences was much more devastating than after Priscilla left. I want to believe that the fans are smart enough to see that a divorce was the right thing to do for her at that time. Priscilla has contributed a lot to the legacy of Elvis Presley, and we must thank her for saving Graceland, it´s easy to forget how bad things looked in the early eighties. So, why are people against Priscilla? Well, I have this feeling that a lot of the times, she uses Elvis´ name to promote herself. It is just a feeling I have. Another thing she does, is that she overrates the significance she had in Elvis´ career. She was his girlfriend and later his wife, but she was never involved in any of the decisions about his career. But as a businesswoman, she did very well and she deserves credit for that.

She and Elvis divorced nearly 40 years ago, yet she still uses his name to get what she wants...thats why she shouldn't be given the award. If she cared that much about Elvis she would never have allowed the Mr Potato Head of many of the other ridiculous products that EPE make. I was at the Hyde Park Elvis Forever concert on Sunday, which was done in association with EPE...and bearing in mind that Priscilla was the guest of honour, and gave a "heartfelt" speech, what "souvenirs" did they have for sale?....a wrap-around paper Elvis head and gold sunglasses and some dreadful black wigs. DISGRACEFUL!!!

Judy: maybe only we women think like this... I too think it is 'not done' to keep on using the name of an ex husband.

As for the comment ‘she dared divorce a husband that was unfaithful every moment her back was turned’ Priscilla also had affairs while she was married to Elvis and even wrote about two of them in her own book, so she was hardly the ‘innocent’ one. The karate instructor who she had an affair with and who moved in with her after she left Elvis was also married and had one young child and his wife was expecting their second . Don’t know if he dumped his wife for Priscilla before or after she gave birth. This guy was no dummy; he knew he was greatly improving his standard of living staying with Priscilla because Elvis was very generous. I think Priscilla has milked the ‘Presley’ name for every dime she could get for herself and I don’t think anything she does is for ‘Elvis’ memory.’ I think it is us, the fans, with our dedication and our dollars, who have kept and will always keep Elvis’ memory alive.

I have been very impressed with Priscilla Presley of late. She has done a lot to promote Elvis' Legacy and always speaks well of him wherever she goes. At the recent Hyde Park Tribute Concert she came over as a genuinely sincere person and at one stage was nearly in tears reminiscing about Elvis' love for his fans. She is also a shrewd businesswoman and has done much to keep Graceland and EPE profitable. It's a pity that Lisa Marie cannot be bothered to do the same.

It's interesting to see this great debate with good educated views given on both sides. For me she only cares about herself and not the Elvis cause. Her and EPEs constant use of bad Elvis impersonators wandering around in jumpsuits, sunglasses and sluring "thank you very much" doesn't do anything but give the general public a bad impression (excuse the pun) of Elvis. Let's also not forget she dropped the Presley surname until she wanted an acting career and conned Vernon on his deathbed into changing his will against the wishes that Elvis had laid out in his will. Yes I am grateful at keeping Graceland open but lets not forget how they have forced out all the independent traders and overcharge on everything they sell.

I see very different points of views here. Mine is that she deserves respect, without her, Elvis' legacy would not have been the same. Like her or not but she's a great ambassador for Elvis. About the women not liking her... Is it not just envy to some degree?

smart business woman, lol graceland is sold now, everything is now owned by somebody else. wake up people, they are out for the money not the fans. this august proved that. the sales at graceland were down big time, let's keep it up. show them there merchandise is crap and the prices are too high.

The mansion and its grounds have not been sold. Anytime a big name celb dies, the airs always contact Priscilla. Elvis has earned over a billion dollars since he passed. Certainly, EPE's has had something to do with that amazing number. That shows that Priscilla and her hired hands have known something about taking care of business.

Ok, regardless of your opinion of Priscilla, let's keep the facts straight. Graceland & the property it sets on has not been sold. EPE manages it but it is owned solely by Lisa. EPE owns & controls the rest of the business, i.e., merchandising, music, publicity, licensing, etc. The Graceland mansion & grounds comes under the umbrella of EPE strictly from a managerial standpoint but is individually owned. Both Priscilla & Lisa own a considerable share of the stock with Priscilla retaining a seat on the Board. Incidentally, since Graceland has the distinction of being named an historical dwelling, they receive a small stipend from the National Parks for maintenance each year.

Sorry, I meant to add that yes, profits were down this past EW due to many factors such as economy (which affected many tourist sites) & the incredible heat this summer. Memphis is always hot but this year was extraordinary warm which kept many away. However, the vigil never ended until almost 4:00 AM this year so that's hardly a complaint in the success of the night. Graceland, bad economy or not, still managed over 600,000 visitors last year. And there are other factors: There were many visitors like myself who just came for the vigil this year & did not attend the entire EW. We chose not to spend the extra money it would take for events we have already participated in. We saved our time & money for the vigil. However, that will not be the case in 2012. EPE always anticipates a larger than normal crowd & expenditure of money for the "anniversary" year. Reminds me of what a CEO of a major company once said, "It's nothing personal, it's just business".

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert :)

IMO very good explanation by Ruthie ! Being able to visit Graceland, to be able to pay your respect to Elvis, his mother, his father,his grandmother and his still-born twinbrother, standing in front of the graves in the Meditation Garden, it's a very good thing that this has been made possible for the fans from all over the world. Of course there's a lot of business involved, but there was a lot of business involved already when Elvis was alive. As for Priscilla : many, many years ago I had the privilege (so had my band) to back Charlie Hodge during his very first visit to Belgium ( may Charlie rest in peace, what a nice guy and great human being he was !) where he did two performances. I had the opportunity to talk a lot with him about Elvis and his family. He always spoke with great respect about Priscilla and called her " a very classy lady. In a former posting someone wrote that Priscilla had also affairs with other men.That may be true . My admiration for Elvis as an artist and human being will remain untouchable as long as I live, but let's face the truth : who started being unfaithful ? Our Man or Priscilla ? But hey, we are all human and make mistakes in our life. I think Priscilla really deserves respect and being honored. Just my opinion . Always El.

You can put down Priscilla all you want and some of it is even warranted. But tell me, what has Lisa Marie done to promote her father? Does she even care? In my opinion not as much as Priscilla. It should be Elvis' daughter out there. But much like John Lennon, it is the ex-wife & widow behind all the scenes and projects. Lisa Marie has done more to embarrass Elvis than to promote him.

Good for her,she deserves it,more than LMP who is just a pain & only gives her dad bad publicity,& I don't understand a word she's singing. She's sexy thats all.

Fully agree with Presleyville's comment : why does she deserve a price....Tghis is not "Do you wanna dance"-contest... She deserves nothing. She is just ripping off Elvis' fame & fortune & image ! So does her daughter. Shameful, reckless comments made by Lisa in California show no respect for the good life that her Dad has left her. Dollar-freaks !

I think this is very good news for Priscilla. She has done so much to protect our mans legacy. Her speech at Hyde Park was really heartfelt. I very rarely post on here, mainly because of the negative comments, but I do feel strongly on this and Priscilla gets allot of undeserved flak, I felt the need to sing her praises