Manuela has kissed her Prince goodbye in divorce court
C.J., Star Tribune
Last update: July 26, 2006 – 11:00 PM

I sensed something amiss between Prince and Manuela when she became my pen pal in early May.

This was the first time that one of Prince's women, so to speak, had made nice with the columnist who irritated the rocker into writing a song called "Billy Jack Bitch." (You can stop denying it's about me, Prince; your first wife, Mayte, spilled the beans in a magazine interview with D.C. celebrity journalist Jawn Murray.)

A tip was received Tuesday, and on Wednesday a Hennepin County court document confirming that Manuela had filed for divorce on May 24 was located.

Her rocker husband has an impeccable eye for a sweet, pretty, young bride but apparently no clue how to keep one. Or does he?

PR firm didn't know
Visions of gigantic Kobe-size diamond rings popped into my head when someone at a NYC PR firm for Manuela's company, Gamillah Inc., told me she didn't know about any divorce.

"As far as we know, it's not true," said Jessica Pollack of Alison Brod Public Relations late Wednesday. I had sent Pollack an e-mail seeking contact with Manuela, and then called for an official explanation of what Gamillah does. "I got your e-mail," Pollack said. "She's [Manuela] leaving for vacation for the next month. A nice long vacation out of the country, actually."

That's convenient
Pollack had no explanation for why court documents state that Manuela has hired divorce attorney Edward Winer. One thing's for sure -- with Winer billing the hours, Manuela will ride off with much, much more than a "Little Red Corvette." Court records ID Prince's lawyer as Alan Eidsness.

While both lawyers returned my calls, they didn't say anything worth repeating. What's the point of asking for the divorce file to be sealed if you're gonna yak about it?

With the file sealed, we won't be able to confirm little things like when Manuela and Prince married.

First, there was Mayte
Prince dumped his first wife, Mayte, a dancer, with some extremely bogus whatever verbiage about not needing a contract as the framework for their relationship.

Prince and Mayte married on Valentine's Day 1996 at Park Avenue United Methodist Church. Their union produced a baby boy, who sadly died from Pfeiffer syndrome type 2, a rare skull deformity resulting from a genetic mutation. In 1998 Prince announced that he and Mayte would divorce; then in 1999 Prince confused the issue by saying they hadn't divorced.

The Mirror reported in January 2002 "news on the mystery woman superstar Prince married in a hush-hush ceremony in Hawaii. The website for the purple pop star claims that Prince's second wife hails from Canada. According to the site, Manuela, who worked for Prince's famous Paisley Park complex, married the star on New Year's Eve in a Jehovah's Witness ceremony."

Considering Symbolina's alleged aversion to contracts, there was great suspicion about what kind of marriage he had entered into with Manuela. For a time I called Manuela his "supposed wife" and "Mrs."

In 2003 I reported a sighting of Manuela waiting in a truck, while Prince met his Jehovah's Witness proselytizing obligations by door-knocking in Eden Prairie during -- gasp! -- a Vikings game.

There have been rumblings about problems in this marriage since last year, even though they didn't seem to spend much time here. Just as word was out that they really were not getting along, in January the couple arrived hand-in-hand at Bellanotte for a romantic dinner in a private dining area.

Pen pals
Manuela first corresponded via FedEx with a thank-you note after a May 4 column item about her volunteer work with Free Arts Minnesota. The non-profit charity's mission is to expose abused kids to the healing power of creative expression.

So I replied with a note asking about the "In a Perfect World" stationery on which she had written.

Another FedEx packet followed with information about the charity she founded. It stated that "In a Perfect World," which Pollack said is under the Gamillah umbrella, is a foundation "dedicated to developing compassionate, socially responsible leadership in children and youth that will address community needs and issues." The accompanying bio noted: "Manuela currently divides her time between Minneapolis and Toronto. She is married to Prince Roger Nelson."

She included another note, which ended "Your unlikely pen-pal, Manuela."

In a June e-mail Pollack, the PR woman, stressed: "As you already know, Manuela is a separate entity from her husband, Prince, and is doing some amazing work with her company Gamillah, Inc."

Stay tuned to find out just how separate their personal lives are. From the outside, marriage to Symbolina looks like it could be really hard work.

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com. E-mailers, please state a subject -- "Hello" doesn't count. Attachments are not opened, so don't even try. More of her attitude can be seen on FOX 9 Thursday mornings.

http://www.startribune.co...77276.html

Old news already

See sticky http://www.prince.org/msg/7/197295
[Edited 8/6/06 21:09pm]

luv4u said:

I didn't see anything about pen pals in that thread hon.

Sweeny79 said:

it's among the several other additions within the thread.

Not if she's penpals with that BJB!

Isn't this the kind of gossip that kids in highschool take part in. CJ's family must be real proud of her. What a jackass.

"Her rocker husband has an impeccable eye for a sweet, pretty, young bride but apparently no clue how to keep one. Or does he?"


Damn, perhaps Mani should include a photo with her next letter...she's 'orrible looking and looks waaay older than she claims to be. I mean Prince is no spring chicken but Mani looks knackered, I had no idea why people think shes good looking.

I bet her perfume smell of Werthers originals

Actually - its hardly a Pen pal is it? A polite Thank You note and thats it

Dawned on me why records are being sealed. One reason being that
info on any kid/kids is being protected.
Prince has said that news of any kids
would be kept confidential.

Actually, Prince news must b getting a bit thin on the ground again, 2 have this as a headline news on the front page!!!!

purpledoveuk said:

True Dat! Mani has always looked horrible, she looks like she on a famine diet!

Bull said:

Recycled news.

Oh Damn..lmao!

purpledoveuk said:

hello prince love you you know i wish everybody would stay out of prince afairs and mind there own business.so much truth and lies only god knows what realy going on.and prince his self alright already. peace and love always to prince.

hello again prince when i said prince already i meant god and prince knows what s going on in his life peace love god bless hope everything be alright dear prince.

Bull said:

Hell, yeah, I'm proud. My Boo works so I ain't got to.

I think Ive read this already! However that probly is the reason the files r confidential, interesting but understandable! Peace and love

And the beat goes on, and the beat goes on! la da dada dee la da dum! eye will b there when the last one falls!

¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ SYMBOLINA ! ! ! ! ! ! !

¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ SYMBOLINA ! ! ! ! ! ! !

[Edited 8/7/06 22:14pm]

¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ SYMBOLINA ! ! ! ! ! ! !

purpledoveuk said:

Yeah I agree

should be moved from being a sticky, unless U R trying to make sure Prince sees it

luv2luvya said:

Please keep in mind the way Mani signed the note "Your unlikely pen-pal, Manuela". My guess is that this is where the pen-pal thing got started and who's to say if the note that CJ is writting about in that article was the only one. I think that it's stank that she wrote to CJ of all people. P must've pissed her off big time to want to go and do that.

birds of a feather ...

Its a little messy on Mani's part.


you have to ring the door bell to get someone to open the door. I think Mani just wanted CJ to know, "Hey , I'M not your enemy."

When did Prince ever deny "Billy Jack Bitch" was about CJ? I thought he was pretty clear about that.

Old news already

didn't Prince date CJ back in highschool or something?