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Elvis Presley‘s cousin has responded to Prince Harry’s not-so-nice remark about the king of rock and roll’s Graceland estate. The royal called the home a “badger sett” in his book Spare. Presley’s cousin shared a diplomatic response that allowed Harry to share his opinion, but that doesn’t mean he agrees with the Duke of Sussex.

A black and white photo of Elvis Presley taken outside of his home Graceland in Memphis, TN.
Elvis Presley poses outside of Graceland | Ullstein Bild via Getty Images

Prince Harry visited Graceland in 2014

Harry visited Elvis Presley’s home in 2014. He and his brother, Prince William, were in Memphis to celebrate mutual friend Guy Pelly’s wedding to Elizabeth Alleen Wilson. The heiress to the Holiday Inn fortune hails from Tennessee. The couple’s nuptials were held at the Memphis Hunt and Polo Club.

The Daily Mail reported the royals received a private tour of Elvis’ home. The tour group wore replicas of the king of rock and roll’s gold aviator sunglasses. A staff member at the visitor attraction said to the news outlet, “It is pretty special to have a future king take time to visit the king.”

In his tell-all Spare, Prince Harry discussed his trip to the private home, which welcomes visitors from around the world who want to learn more about the personal life of Elvis Presley. Graceland is on the United States National Register of Historic Places and is a national historic landmark.

Prince Harry was unimpressed by Graceland. He wrote in Spare, “People variously called the house a castle, a mansion, a palace. But it reminded me of the badger sett.” This phrase, per The Mirror, explained Harry’s comment likening the mansion to a lower ground floor apartment he previously lived in at Kensington Palace.

“Dark, claustrophobic. I walked around saying, ‘The king lived here, you say? Really?’” he continued. “I stood in one tiny room with loud furniture and shag carpet and thought: the king’s interior designer must’ve been on acid.”

Elvis Presley’s cousin responded to Prince Harry’s remarks

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Elvis Presley’s cousin Danny Smith, who lived in a trailer with his father Billy on the Graceland estate, was a childhood friend of the late Lisa Marie. On his YouTube channel Memphis Mafia Kid, a fan asked, “What do you think about Prince Harry disrespecting Graceland?”

He replied: “Well, y’all, as I’ve always said, everybody has their views, and they have the right to express their feelings. I don’t know if he actually meant it the way he said it, but if he did, y’know, maybe that’s how he felt.”

Smith continued, “I’ll say this, I thought Graceland was something, and many other people did too. It was something to Elvis, and it was something to me because I got to live there, and Prince Harry didn’t.”

“The same as he lived in the palace, and I didn’t get to live there. I can’t, and I am not going to put anybody down or have something against somebody for just speaking what they feel. We all have the right [to an opinion],” Smith concluded.

Graceland was Elvis Presley’s castle

Elvis purchased Graceland, a 13.8-acre estate, back in 1957 for just over $100,000. When he made the purchase, Presley was busy working on his second motion picture, Loving You. He placed a $1,000 deposit down as collateral.

Graceland was the second home Presley purchased for his parents, Vernon and Gladys. The first was a home located on Audubon Avenue in East Memphis. However, as Presley’s star grew, that home, unprotected from onlookers, became a mecca for the superstar’s fans.

Presley wanted something more private, and he found that with Graceland, which allowed the entertainer to retreat from the public eye. The famous music gates were not on the property when Presley purchased Graceland. They were erected in April 1957 to keep Presley’s fans at bay.

On May 16, 1957, his parents and grandmother moved in while Elvis continued to film Jailhouse Rock. Presley did not officially move into the property until June of that same year. Today, Graceland continues to draw millions of tourists a year who visit the home where Elvis Presley lived and died in Aug. 1977.

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