Elvis Presley’s ‘tremendous spirit of generosity’ shared by ex Linda Thompson
Being an extremely profitable music and film star, Elvis Presley was (unsurprisingly) extremely rich.
In 1957 he bought the Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee for $102,500 (practically $1 million right this moment) and employed household and associates to be his safety guards.
Known for his unbelievable generosity, The King would purchase his Memphis Mafia automobiles and houses and generally even prolonged such kindness to folks he’d simply met.
Speaking at Elvis Week 2023, his girlfriend of just about 5 years, Linda Thompson, informed followers: “Elvis honestly didn’t care about money. He didn’t care about hoarding money, he had such a generous spirit.
“And he would often say, ‘I derive so much more pleasure from giving than receiving.’”
Linda continued: “He was a very difficult person to buy for as you can imagine because he had everything and if he didn’t have it, he could go out and buy it.”
Memphis Mafia members Red West and Dick Grob would inform folks about to satisfy Elvis: “Whatever you do, don’t tell him you like his watch, because he’ll just give it to you.”
The King’s previous flame continued: “Honestly that’s the truth. We called him Santa Claus because he had such a tremendous spirit of giving. He was an incredible person.”
On the way it was arduous to purchase a present for the star, she mentioned: “The best gift that I was ever able to give Elvis was the Maltese cross that he wore all the time in his shows.
“It was our second Christmas together and not knowing that Elvis never did anything for himself… y’know he would never indulge himself as much as he would indulge other people…I went to Lowell Hays [Elvis’ jeweller].”
Linda requested the cross she designed with diamonds and each of their birthstones turned sideways in a coronary heart, joined by a single diamond with an eternity ring round these two hearts.
She then went dwelling to Graceland and mentioned to Elvis: “Honey, I want to buy you a nice Christmas present this year, but of course, that means you’ll pay for it. But I want to do it for you.”
The King replied: “Okay sweetheart, how much are we talking about?” She mentioned, “$25,000”, to which Elvis responded: “$25,000?!”
Having truly mentioned this to melt the blow, Linda then mentioned: “Now doesn’t $8,000 sound better?” Elvis agreed and ended up “adoring” the Maltese cross necklace, sporting it to each present thereafter.