Elvis Presley crypt to be sold in memorabilia auction
The private mausoleum crypt in Memphis, Tennessee in which Elvis Presley was first buried is to be sold at auction.
The lot includes the crypt itself, the right to open and close the vault for a burial, a memorial inscription and the use of a small chapel for a service. Bids are expected to start at $100,000 (£63,781). Other items in the sale, to be held on 23 and 24 June in Hollywood, include clothing worn by the guitarist Keith Richards and the late Amy Winehouse. Following Presley's funeral at his Graceland home in August 1977, his body was temporarily entombed in a crypt at Forest Hill Cemetery. Around 80,000 people lined the processional route that Presley's coffin took from Graceland to Forest Hill. Within two months, both his body and that of his mother Gladys were moved to a permanent site in the meditation garden on the Graceland grounds. According to the Julien's Auctions website Presley's original crypt "has remained empty... as a visiting place for those coming to remember The King". The Sports Legends and Music Icons sale will be held at Julien's auction house in Beverly Hills on 23 and 24 June. Other lots include a robe Winehouse used in her Rehab video and a ripped T-shirt worn by Richards while playing for the Rolling Stones.