After spending more than three decades celebrating the legacy of Elvis Presley, Parkes Elvis Festival founders Bob and Anne Steel had the chance to meet one of the most significant figures in Elvis' story.

The Steels were invited as VIP guests to Priscilla Presley’s Australian book tour event marking the release of her memoir, Softly As I Leave You.

While Anne had seen Priscilla before at Bendigo, this was the first time the couple were able to sit down with her and talk.

“We actually had two really good chats with Priscilla,” Anne said.

“About 20 to 30 minutes the first time and nearly that again later. She was just lovely.”

Priscilla’s delayed flight pushed back Bob and Anne’s original pre-show meeting time but they had the chance to talk to Priscilla during the interval of her show and again after the show instead.

“She was signing all these things at one point and still had quite a few to go and we said we will wait but she pushed it all aside and told us to sit on the couch,” Anne said.

“We sat and had a chat with her and lots of photos which was really nice. It was a really nice experience.”

Bob and Anne’s daughter Tiffany Steel also came along as well as Parkes Elvis Festival director Brendan Shipley who said meeting Priscilla was both humbling and inspiring.

“She carried herself with the elegance and warmth that have made her such an enduring icon, yet she was remarkably approachable and down to earth,” Brendan said.

“There was a real sense of history in the room, as if the legacy of Elvis and that era was quietly present.

“Hearing her stories offered a rare glimpse behind the public persona and it left a lasting impression on all of us.”

Related: Burning love for Elvis turns into meeting with Priscilla

The show featured Priscilla in conversation with a journalist, answering audience questions and reflecting on her life before, during and after Elvis.

Bob described her new book as “beautifully written but very emotional”.

“You’ll need tissues,” he said.

“She’s been through so much and lost so many people she loves but she speaks very openly and honestly.”

The Parkes Elvis Festival was also in the spotlight at every one of Priscilla’s shows featuring footage of the festival across theatres in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane thanks to the festival’s official affiliation with Elvis Presley Enterprises.

“So many people have told us they saw the festival advertised and now want to come,” Anne said.

“At the show in Sydney there were people everywhere wearing Parkes Elvis Festival shirts and plenty more who came up to say going to the festival is on their bucket list.”

The couple said Priscilla expressed genuine interest in the next generation carrying on Elvis’s legacy, something the Steels reassured her is already happening in Parkes.

“We’ve watched kids grow up with the festival and now they’re bringing their own children,” Anne said.

Tiffany asked Priscilla the question everyone has been wanting to know the answer to.

Will Priscilla Presley ever visit the Parkes Elvis Festival?

Priscilla’s answer was cautious but hopeful.

“She said ‘never say never’, she didn’t say yes but she didn’t say no,” Bob said.

At the 2026 Parkes Elvis Festival Bob and Anne are looking forward to seeing their ‘Elvis family’.

“For me it’s all about catching up with the Elvis tribute artists,” Anne said.

“The old faces, the new ones and everyone who’s been coming back year after year.”

And of course the pair are also excited to be catching up with the 2026 Parkes Elvis Festival Wall of Fame inductee, Marcia Hines.

“We met Marica on a cruise two years ago,” Bob said.

“We didn’t have anybody on our wall at that stage and that’s when we asked her if she’d come on the wall and she said she would be really honoured to be on that wall.”

“We had a lot to do with her on the boat. She is a lovey person,” Anne said.

And after meeting Priscilla Presley?

“We always liked her,” Bob said.

“But we like her even more now,” Anne added.