NOT only has showbiz royalty Priscilla Presley got new dance routines and lines to learn but she is also getting to grips with the British sense of humour.

The 69-year-old former wife of Elvis is taking it all in her stride and relishing her role of the Wicked Queen, despite admitting being homesick while on English soil.

The grandmother-of-four, best known for co-starring with Leslie Nielsen in the Naked Gun film series and for playing Jenna Wade in Dallas, is appearing in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Manchester's Opera House from next Friday.

Priscilla, who had daughter Lisa Marie with the late King of Rock and Roll, said: "When you are away for the holidays and you are walking around and everything is decorated, you do get a little melancholy.

"We are going to have a little Thanksgiving dinner here with the cast and some of the crew so we won't be sat crying in our hotel rooms because we are missing our friends and family."

Priscilla, who met Elvis at the age of just 14, was introduced to the world of pantomime two years ago when she played the Wicked Queen in Wimbledon.

She enjoyed it so much that she is making her Northern panto debut during her first visit to Manchester.

She said: "I love it. I get to play the baddie and they have the best lines.

"We don't really have anything (in America) to compare pantomime to.

"The Brits have such a great sense of humour, so dry.

"There are some jokes which I don't know why they laugh.

"I think, are they inside jokes?"

Also appearing in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, from Friday, December 5, to Sunday, January 4, are Star Wars' Warwick Davis, the show's director, Brookside's Philip Oliver, West End talent Natalie Andreou, stage star Daniel Stockton and popular funnyman Tam Ryan.

Priscilla said: "Warwick has been a great director.

"There's so much patience. He's not one of those directors that yells. He directs beautifully."

Aside from the panto — which promises sensational songs, sparkling costumes, a live band, dazzling dance routines, hilarious slapstick comedy and bags of audience participation — Priscilla is bringing an Elvis exhibition to the UK next month.

Opening at The O2, London, on December 12, the nine month exhibition will showcase artefacts direct from the Presley family’s treasured Graceland Archives, some of which have never been exhibited outside of Graceland in Memphis.

Priscilla said: "We have 300 artefacts that have come directly from Graceland.

"It's very exciting, this is the first time we have ever done anything like this in Europe and Britain.

"It will be a chance for people who haven't been to Graceland or don't have the opportunity to go there to see all the things that surrounded Elvis — not just things in music and movies but his personal possessions.

"We have a younger generation now that's really interested in Elvis.

"I have been wanting to do this for a long time now.

"We have got a lot of people taking about it.

"We want to keep that legacy going."

Looking to the future and Priscilla is working on a play, charting a life which saw her thrust into the limelight ever since she married cultural icon Elvis Presley at the age of 21.

She said: "Right now, I'm working on a play of my life. I went into the world of rock and roll at such a young age.

"It's a work in progress, it looks like it's coming to fruition.

"I will keep you posted."

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is at the Opera House, Quay Street, fromFriday, December 5, to Sunday, January 4.