Graceland: Take a live virtual tour of Elvis' Memphis home
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During Elvis Presley’s lifetime, the Memphis Mafia and their families were free to come and go at his home of Graceland. However, the upstairs (which remains off-limits to the public to this day) was his private space. In fact, it turns out The King had one-way mirrors installed at the entrance to his haven to ensure his total privacy.
Earlier this month, Express.co.uk took part in a virtual live tour of the Graceland mansion.
To our amazement, archivist Angie Marchese began leading the live stream camera up the staircase.
Of course, she couldn’t actually take us into Elvis’ bedroom, office and other rooms.
However, the Graceland expert did point out The King’s privacy wall on the upstairs landing to the right.
Angie said: “One question that we always get a lot of is about the upstairs and something you might notice is this privacy wall right here.”
The King had the wall installed when he first moved into Graceland in 1957.
She added: “He really had an open-door policy that anyone he was friends with could use Graceland and have people come to Graceland.
“So, to ensure privacy upstairs he had this wall added and those mirrors you see are actually one-way mirrors where he could see out but no one could see in.”
Elvis Presley: Upstairs of Graceland ‘like he just left’ says expert
From what we could see there was one of the one-way mirrors on the wall to the side of the staircase, while another looked down over it so that both horizontal and vertical angles were covered.
But if that wasn’t enough, Angie then went to the top of the first landing where she pointed out how the way up to Elvis’ private upstairs area was to our right.
However, there was also a door to the left which she said people on tours pretty much always ask about and where it goes.
So Angie decided to show us by opening the door and going through it, as the camera stayed downstairs and went into the kitchen to find that she had come down the stairs into that room.
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Angie explained this is how Elvis would come downstairs to the kitchen where he could pick up some snacks for himself and even his famous peanut butter banana sandwiches.
After the tour, Express.co.uk asked the Graceland expert what was inside the mansion’s mysterious attic.
She replied: “All of the attic items have been moved to the archives.”
And as for what Elvis had chosen to keep up there, Angie said: “All of Gladys belongings, his army stuff was up there. Some of Lisa’s baby clothes, old furnishings and drapes.”
So by the sounds of it, Graceland’s attic was used to store items that The King and his family were no longer using.
After all, his mother Gladys sadly died in 1958, while Elvis’ time in the army came to an end in 1960.
His military uniform is now on permanent display across the road from the mansion at the entertainment and exhibit complex, Elvis Presley’s Memphis.
While some of Gladys’ clothes are hung up in the closet inside her downstairs bedroom, which fans can see early on during the walk-through tour.
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