Nancy Rooks spent years working inside Graceland, Elvis Presley’s home in Memphis. She started as a maid and later helped in the kitchen, and over time she saw the Presleys the way almost no one else did, on the quiet mornings when there were no fans or cameras around. To the people who bought her books later on, she was the woman who could tell you what the King was really like at home.
In early 1968 the house was about to change. Elvis and his wife Priscilla were expecting their first baby. Their daughter Lisa Marie arrived on February 1, 1968, a little over nine months after the couple had married, and from the start Elvis treated her like the best thing that had ever happened to him.
Nancy was there through all of it. And something Elvis told her during those weeks stayed with her for the rest of her life.
Here is real footage of the proud new parents bringing their baby girl home.
Elvis and Priscilla bring newborn Lisa Marie home to Graceland
Elvis was thrilled about the baby, and he wasn’t thinking small about what might come next. Nancy remembered him talking about the big family he pictured for them. She recalled Elvis saying, “We’re going to have 20 children!”
Twenty. He said it like a man who already had the names picked out.
Nancy held on to that line. A few weeks later, once the house had settled and Priscilla was back on her feet, she brought it up with her. She told Priscilla what Elvis had said about all those children he wanted.
Priscilla laughed. Then she gave her answer, and it was short.
She recalled Priscilla laughing and answering, “Well, he’ll be the one to have them, because I’m not having any more!”
The whole kitchen broke up laughing.
That is the Nancy Rooks her readers love. She wrote about her years at Graceland in her book “Inside Graceland: Elvis’ Maid Remembers,” and it’s the small moments like this one that make her memories feel so real. She knew the famous Elvis, but she also knew the husband and the brand new father, teasing and dreaming out loud in his own kitchen.
Any mom who has just been through childbirth will know exactly how Priscilla felt that day.
Nancy told her Graceland stories herself for years, and you can still hear her talk about everyday life in the house.
Graceland housekeeper Nancy Rooks on life inside the Presley home
Elvis never did get his twenty. Lisa Marie stayed the only child he and Priscilla had together. She grew into the center of his world, the little girl who ran the halls of Graceland with her daddy wrapped around her finger.
Watch the footage above to see the new parents bring their baby home, and to hear Nancy tell her Graceland stories in her own voice.