ELVIS’ FORESKIN - A ‘SNIP’ AT £50,000

A foreskin once belonging to Elvis Presley has fetched £50,000 at Southeby’s.

The flaccid piece of skin, which has been the property of Withering resident Elsie Battledore for the last four decades, went under the hammer at the famous London auction house last Monday.

“It was just before Elvis’ comeback in 1969,” the 71 year-old Mrs Battledore told the Observer yesterday, “and I was on holiday in Las Vegas. I was sitting in a Howard Johnson’s, having a cup of coffee, when this man came up and asked if he could join me.”

Unbeknownst to Mrs Battledore, the stranger with the lambchop sideburns and mirror sunglasses who sat down opposite her was none other than the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll himself.

“I didn’t recognise him at all,” she said, “what with the glasses and everything. I noticed that he was walking rather stiffly and he seemed a little sad, almost as if he’d lost something. So we chatted for a while and I did my best to cheer him up a bit.

“After about half an hour, he got up to leave and I wished him well. He said: ‘Why, thank you, ma’am’, ever so polite, like.

“Then he fished in his pocket and gave me this little box, like one you’d get for a ring or something. He told me to keep it and to sell it only when I wanted something really special.”

When Mrs Battledore opened the box, she saw that there was a little piece of skin inside with a couple of dark, curly hairs caught up in it, but she didn’t immediately realise what it was.

“It was only when I read in the Las Vegas Sun the following morning that Elvis had recently been circumcised at an exclusive clinic that it dawned on me,” she said.

That little gift attracted a great deal of interest on Monday afternoon, with the King’s foreskin eventually selling to an anonymous phone bidder from Tokyo.

When asked about the something special, Mrs Battledore replied that she would use the money to pay for a vasectomy for her husband Reg.

“He’s wanted one for years,” she said, “so I thought I’d treat him and get it done at Harley Street.”