Part of the clash was due to Lennon and Elvis’s profound political differences. The King was notoriously enthusiastic about guns, law and order and military service.

Hutchins said: “Elvis’ dislike of the pacifist Beatle was born from the night I took the Fab Four to his house for their first – and last – meeting.

“John had annoyed Presley by making his anti-war feelings known the moment he stepped into the massive lounge and spotted the table lamps – model wagons engraved with the message: ‘All the way with LBJ.’

“Lennon hated President Lyndon B Johnson for raising the stakes in the Vietnam War.”

The Beatle, of course, would become increasingly political in his music and public statements right up to his death in 1980.