It was the most exciting day in a young girl’s life - a meeting with Elvis Presley, a kiss on the cheek and the gift of a rose.
These pictures, unearthed after 50 years, show the day a teenager met her rock ’n’ roll idol while he was serving with the U.S. Army in Germany .
The girl’s mother and father took her to Bad Nauheim in 1959 when Elvis was living there, close to his base. By a stroke of luck, they found him relaxing off-duty.
Wearing his Army cap and holding his hand, this 16-year-old gets up close to rock king Elvis while he was serving in Germany more than 50 years ago
My idol: Elvis gave the girl a kiss on the cheek and a rose which she kept when they met by chance
The parents took the photographs in which their 16-year-old daughter is seen with Elvis, who in one snapshot has his arm around her as she wears his Army cap while he wears his combat helmet.
Elvis, then aged 23, also signed some publicity photos that she already had of him.
The photographs are to be shown tonight on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow after a German-born Londoner brought them to one of the programmes at the British Museum.
The woman in possession of the pictures, who wished to remain anonymous, was a 14-year-old schoolgirl living in Mainz when her friend revealed that she had met the world’s most famous heart-throb.
Two girls look underwhelmed at meeting the singer, but Elvis is clearly enjoying all the attention
Elvis autographs one of his records for a fan in these unseen photographs of the singer who was then 23 years old
She said: ’My friend told me excitedly,’I’ve seen Elvis and I’ve touched him and he kissed me.’
’To prove it, she gave me copies of the photographs that her folk had taken of them.
"When word got out, there was a meteoric rise in her popularity.She had obviously been able to spend some time with Elvis and, being a very pretty girl, seems to have impressed him.
’She got kissed by him and she wouldn’t wash her cheek for a whole week. He gave her a rose, which we pressed and she shared the petals with me. I kept the dried petals in foil under my bed. I still have them.
Elvis with a friend in Germany and as he was in his 1957 film musical Jailhouse Rock
’Although we lost touch long ago, I kept the photographs safely in a drawer.’
Roadshow memorabilia expert Hilary Kay said: ’I’ve never seen Elvis Presley look more gorgeous. It is a wonderful collection and the thing is that nobody knew these photographs existed’
She valued the collection at up to $10,000 because the ’ fan vase for Elvis is still really strong.’
Roadshow presenter Fiona Bruce said: ’Those must be some of the most stunning pictures of a young Elvis I’ve ever seen and to think, they’ve never been seen in public before.
’No wonder Hilary Kay was looking so flushed!’
Elvis was drafted into the US Army in March 1958 as Private Presley (number 53 310 761). He arrived in Germany in October and was stationed at Friedberg.
Away from the barracks, he stayed at a hotel at Bad Nauheim, close to the base. In September,1959, Elvis, then 24, met Priscilla Beaulieu who was 14. Presley was discharged from the Army in 1960 and wed Priscilla in 1967.