Elvis Presley's  body was embalmed then dressed in a pale blue shirt, white silk tie and white suit. Placed in a copper-platted open lid casket with his head resting of silver  velvet pillow; ready for his last public appearance at Graceland

Last known photo of Elvis taken hours before he died	Elvis International Magazine - Buy Now

Story Behind the Elvis in his Coffin Picture that appeared on the front page of the Nation Enquirer Tabloid on 6 September 1977:  Iain Calder, veteran Editorial Director of National Inquirer wrote a book, The Untold Story: My 20 Years Running the National Enquirer. Calder admits they acquired the photo from Elvis' cousin Bobby Mann for $18,000.

National Enquirer bribed Mann to sneak a miniature Arco Flex spy camera into Graceland and take a picture of Elvis’ corpse. The shocking photo appeared on the cover of the Enquirer and led to a record-setting sale of 6.5 million copies for the issue. It has since become the most famous cover picture ever. The return on the investment reaped National Enquire over 1000% profit

Update to the Story Behind the Picture of Elvis in his Coffin

The original photo of the famous National Enquirer picture of Elvis Presley lying in his open casket was shredded during a six-year anthrax decontamination effort on the tabloid's former headquarters, according to the newest twist in a federal lawsuit. The front-page photo, which sold a whopping 6.5 million copies in 1977, is the center of a dispute between Boca Raton developer David Rustine, who bought the contaminated building at a bargain-basement price in 2003 while it was still sealed and quarantined and John Y. Mason, whose company, Sabre, was hired to decontaminate it. In a lawsuit filed, Rustine, values the photo at $1 million, said Mason held the photo hostage in a dispute between the two over the cleaning. Rustine wants him to return the image or pay for it.

Elvis Autopsy | Elvis Cause of Death  | Medical Report  | Happy Birthday Elvis

Elvis Aaron Presley
Born: January 8, 1935  -  Died: August 16, 1977
Funeral: August 18, 1977  at  Elvis Eulogy:  2pm at Graceland

The photo is part of rock history. For years, it fueled fan-frenzied stories that "The King" was not dead, that it was all a hoax because the man in the photo didn't look like Elvis Presley. But a 2004 tell-all book by former Enquirer editor Iain Calder laid to rest some rumors when he spilled that the paper paid one of Presley's cousins $18,000 to secretly take the snapshot of the really dead King. Is Elvis Alive?

Most Expensive Photographs Sold