Cliff Richard mourns one of the men who helped him escape Elvis’ terrible fate | Music | Entertainment

Lisa Marie added: “There have been times when I was angry at the people around him (Elvis), ‘Why didn’t you stop him, why didn’t you say something?’ Well, because if you did you were out. It was very simple.

“When it’s this unusual reality in an ivory tower with a godlike life, mixed with an addiction, that’s when you get into trouble.”

Elvis would die the year after his proposed 1976 meeting with Cliff. The British star, of course, is still going strong five decades later.

Reid explained why Cliff is so different: “To us, he’s just a regular guy. If he’s beaten in tennis, he’s beaten. If someone didn’t buy his records, he would think, ‘I’ll try harder at the next one’.

“He doesn’t have that elevated thing about him. If we went round to play tennis, it isn’t, ‘Oh, Cliff will provide the tea.’ Someone would take cake and someone else would take scones.”