With his dominance of the charts, the ability to attract unprecedented crowds, and the universal appeal of his charm (and the movement of his hips), Elvis Presley was instantly recognized as the “King”. His fascination with him was so strong that in the 1960s he was introduced to a trio of Scandinavian princesses who visited the United States.
It was early June 1960 when the Princess Margrethe of Denmark (the future Queen), the Princess Astrid of Norway and the Princess Margaretha of Sweden they took off on the first Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen to Los Angeles, for a visit full of appointments.
They met the movie stars of that time, including Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and Shirley MacLaine. And right on the set of GI Blues, at Paramount Studios, the meeting with the King of Rock took place, with whom they took a series of photos during his break from filming. Then they left for more real (and playful) entertainment, a dance and even a visit to and Sea World and Disneyland.
Fifty years after the meeting, Queen Margrethe’s eldest son, Crown Prince Frederik, and his wife, Princess Mary, welcomed twins, Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent; Frederik joked that they should have called his son “Elvis”, since the two are having a birthday together.
In addition to meeting the three young princesses, Elvis despite his fame never met any other European royalty. In fact, he reportedly turned down the opportunity to perform at the Royal Variety Show of 1962, which would allow him to meet Her Majesty the Queen of England. Yet the move wasn’t that unusual: Elvis did not perform outside of the United States or Canada for his entire careerand – as Baz Luhrmann’s film suggests, Elvisnow in theaters – it is speculated that his manager, Colonel Thomas Andrew Parker, was an illegal foreigner on US territory and therefore “recluse” on American soil.
Source: Vanity Fair
