80tomato said:

DD55 said:

Chapter 7

Mayte verifies there is a LOT of stuff in the vault!! Music, videos and more.

.

She was paid very little and when she decided she couldn’t live on that amount of money and was going to go home, P asked her how much she made. He didn’t know? This is a guy in control of everything and everyone, the ‘tour accountant’ was the one that told her her pay would be docked for eating whipped cream. If he had a tour accountant, you know he would be checking to make sure his accounts were in order. Who signed off on payroll checks being cut every week? I think she was very naive. And either is still naive or even today protecting him by trying to dispel rumors that were going around about him underpaying his employees.

.

She has high praise for Morris Hayes.

.

He tells her after shooting a video that it’s time for her to get birth control. She is now officially his girl friend.

.

She talks about the stage dive she did when no one caught her. Dancing was strenuous work with lots of injuries along the way.

.

She was the first one he told that he was going to change his name to the symbol. She said ‘ok'. He replies that he knows that she is the only one that won’t try to talk him out of it.

.

She validates his ‘spiritual’ awakening with regard to the name change.

.

I think someone else mentioned how this chapter is a bit scattered… I wonder if that is due to the fact that he was in the WB / symbol name change period and she doesn’t want to tell the story from his point of view. That period of time was probably ‘all about him’ and I’m sure it was intense. Specific personal events, WB fights/meetings and some of his actions she probably felt best to leave out of the book.

.

~~DD55

It is a good thing he believed in birth control and didnt let nature take its course as he seemed to want in other matters

Yeah, I find his worldview to be confusing and incoherent at times. I suppose that because he was Prince/, with the stature and money that he had, he called a lot of his own shots in his life, more so than most people, and was able to get his way in a lot of matters. In other words, I think that in many aspects of his life, he didn't have to play by the same rules as the rest of us normal, everyday folk.

[Edited 4/12/17 11:25am]

DD55 said:

Chapter 7

Mayte verifies there is a LOT of stuff in the vault!! Music, videos and more.

.

She was paid very little and when she decided she couldn’t live on that amount of money and was going to go home, P asked her how much she made. He didn’t know? This is a guy in control of everything and everyone, the ‘tour accountant’ was the one that told her her pay would be docked for eating whipped cream. If he had a tour accountant, you know he would be checking to make sure his accounts were in order. Who signed off on payroll checks being cut every week? I think she was very naive. And either is still naive or even today protecting him by trying to dispel rumors that were going around about him underpaying his employees.

.

She has high praise for Morris Hayes.

.

He tells her after shooting a video that it’s time for her to get birth control. She is now officially his girl friend.

.

She talks about the stage dive she did when no one caught her. Dancing was strenuous work with lots of injuries along the way.

.

She was the first one he told that he was going to change his name to the symbol. She said ‘ok'. He replies that he knows that she is the only one that won’t try to talk him out of it.

.

She validates his ‘spiritual’ awakening with regard to the name change.

.

I think someone else mentioned how this chapter is a bit scattered… I wonder if that is due to the fact that he was in the WB / symbol name change period and she doesn’t want to tell the story from his point of view. That period of time was probably ‘all about him’ and I’m sure it was intense. Specific personal events, WB fights/meetings and some of his actions she probably felt best to leave out of the book.

.

~~DD55

Regarding the issues around pay, I also thought it was a bit odd that he didn't know how much she made. I don't really know what to make of his supposed ignorance about her salary. She also states in this chapter that he had a lot of people managing different things for him, so I pretty much took her story (about threatening to leave his world and him subsequently increasing her pay) at face value. But after reading your comment, DD55, I'm a bit more skeptical about the whole situation with her pay.

.

As far as who signed off on the checks every week for people working for Prince/Paisley Park Enterprises, it could have been him, but I wonder if maybe it was someone else. Given how often he travelled, I wonder how he would be able to sign off on all of those checks. So perhaps he delegated this authority to an accountant? I really don't know, though.

[Edited 4/12/17 11:22am]

DD55 said:

Chapter 7

Mayte verifies there is a LOT of stuff in the vault!! Music, videos and more.

.

She was paid very little and when she decided she couldn’t live on that amount of money and was going to go home, P asked her how much she made. He didn’t know? This is a guy in control of everything and everyone, the ‘tour accountant’ was the one that told her her pay would be docked for eating whipped cream. If he had a tour accountant, you know he would be checking to make sure his accounts were in order. Who signed off on payroll checks being cut every week? I think she was very naive. And either is still naive or even today protecting him by trying to dispel rumors that were going around about him underpaying his employees.

.

She has high praise for Morris Hayes.

.

He tells her after shooting a video that it’s time for her to get birth control. She is now officially his girl friend.

.

She talks about the stage dive she did when no one caught her. Dancing was strenuous work with lots of injuries along the way.

.

She was the first one he told that he was going to change his name to the symbol. She said ‘ok'. He replies that he knows that she is the only one that won’t try to talk him out of it.

.

She validates his ‘spiritual’ awakening with regard to the name change.

.

I think someone else mentioned how this chapter is a bit scattered… I wonder if that is due to the fact that he was in the WB / symbol name change period and she doesn’t want to tell the story from his point of view. That period of time was probably ‘all about him’ and I’m sure it was intense. Specific personal events, WB fights/meetings and some of his actions she probably felt best to leave out of the book.

.

~~DD55

I can believe that he didn't know. I'm sure he was aware of the tour budget but may not been aware of how much was allocated to each of the people involved in the tour. Tours employee a lot of people. His latter tours weren't as elaborate as earlier tours from D&P and back. Furthermore, he became more aware of the minute details of his affairs and finances when he was no longer working with WB.

I saw that concert too and heard him say that! He was dressed in that garb-looking shirt. He pulled someone on stage at the end and I couldn't see her face. If it was 99 it was well before the letter from Mayte. She sent that in March 2000.

NotACleverName said:

LBrent said:

Dammit, now I gotta dig that concert footage out!

Awww...you'll be very happy you dug it out! Would love to hear your opinion on what you think he might be saying. I wonder if this is the concert where some in the audience saw Manuela hand in Prince some water? I think it might be.... I also wonder if this is before or after Mayte sent "the letter" to Prince. Maybe the reason for the change in lyrics? Gotta find this in the book.

206Michelle said:

80tomato said:

It is a good thing he believed in birth control and didnt let nature take its course as he seemed to want in other matters

Yeah, I find his worldview to be confusing and incoherent at times. I suppose that because he was Prince/, with the stature and money that he had, he called a lot of his own shots in his life, more so than most people, and was able to get his way in a lot of matters. In other words, I think that in may aspects of his life, he didn't have to play by the same rules as the rest of us normal, everyday folk.

All this right here.

Yup

amethyst68 said:

DD55 said:

Chapter 7

Mayte verifies there is a LOT of stuff in the vault!! Music, videos and more.

.

She was paid very little and when she decided she couldn’t live on that amount of money and was going to go home, P asked her how much she made. He didn’t know? This is a guy in control of everything and everyone, the ‘tour accountant’ was the one that told her her pay would be docked for eating whipped cream. If he had a tour accountant, you know he would be checking to make sure his accounts were in order. Who signed off on payroll checks being cut every week? I think she was very naive. And either is still naive or even today protecting him by trying to dispel rumors that were going around about him underpaying his employees.

.

She has high praise for Morris Hayes.

.

He tells her after shooting a video that it’s time for her to get birth control. She is now officially his girl friend.

.

She talks about the stage dive she did when no one caught her. Dancing was strenuous work with lots of injuries along the way.

.

She was the first one he told that he was going to change his name to the symbol. She said ‘ok'. He replies that he knows that she is the only one that won’t try to talk him out of it.

.

She validates his ‘spiritual’ awakening with regard to the name change.

.

I think someone else mentioned how this chapter is a bit scattered… I wonder if that is due to the fact that he was in the WB / symbol name change period and she doesn’t want to tell the story from his point of view. That period of time was probably ‘all about him’ and I’m sure it was intense. Specific personal events, WB fights/meetings and some of his actions she probably felt best to leave out of the book.

.

~~DD55

I can believe that he didn't know. I'm sure he was aware of the tour budget but may not been aware of how much was allocated to each of the people involved in the tour. Tours employee a lot of people. His latter tours weren't as elaborate as earlier tours from D&P and back. Furthermore, he became more aware of the minute details of his affairs and finances when he was no longer working with WB.

He knew ,imo

Dibblekins said:

I've now read the whole book and intend to come in on the chapter-by-chapter discussion, if I may - but just a general observation:
.
Anyone avoiding this book for fear it demonises P should think again. It hasn't made me love him any less - not one bit - but it has made me respect Mayte and their relationship more.

.

In essence, what comes across is that, contrary to popular opinion, Prince wasn't some freak, ogre, or deity - he was just a man, a man muddling through life in his own way, as we all do.
.

Bless his heart - and thank you, Mayte, for sharing this incredibly moving account of your time together.

.

Hey Dibblekins! Good to see ya again

206Michelle said:

DD55 said:

Chapter 7

Mayte verifies there is a LOT of stuff in the vault!! Music, videos and more.

.

She was paid very little and when she decided she couldn’t live on that amount of money and was going to go home, P asked her how much she made. He didn’t know? This is a guy in control of everything and everyone, the ‘tour accountant’ was the one that told her her pay would be docked for eating whipped cream. If he had a tour accountant, you know he would be checking to make sure his accounts were in order. Who signed off on payroll checks being cut every week? I think she was very naive. And either is still naive or even today protecting him by trying to dispel rumors that were going around about him underpaying his employees.

.

She has high praise for Morris Hayes.

.

He tells her after shooting a video that it’s time for her to get birth control. She is now officially his girl friend.

.

She talks about the stage dive she did when no one caught her. Dancing was strenuous work with lots of injuries along the way.

.

She was the first one he told that he was going to change his name to the symbol. She said ‘ok'. He replies that he knows that she is the only one that won’t try to talk him out of it.

.

She validates his ‘spiritual’ awakening with regard to the name change.

.

I think someone else mentioned how this chapter is a bit scattered… I wonder if that is due to the fact that he was in the WB / symbol name change period and she doesn’t want to tell the story from his point of view. That period of time was probably ‘all about him’ and I’m sure it was intense. Specific personal events, WB fights/meetings and some of his actions she probably felt best to leave out of the book.

.

~~DD55

Regarding the issues around pay, I also thought it was a bit odd that he didn't know how much she made. I don't really know what to make of his supposed ignorance about her salary. She also states in this chapter that he had a lot of people managing different things for him, so I pretty much took her story (about threatening to leave his world and him subsequently increasing her) at face value. But after reading your comment, DD55, I'm a bit more skeptical about the whole situation with her pay.

.

As far as who signed off on the checks every week for people working for Prince/Paisley Park Enterprises, it could have been him, but I wonder if maybe it was someone else. Given how often he travelled, I wonder how he would be able to sign off on all of those checks. So perhaps he delegated this authority to an accountant? I really don't know, though.

.

There could've been a set rate of pay for dancers, singers etc... He asked for a report for everyone that was working for him at the time. This leads me to believe that 1. He did not know what everyone was being paid and 2. He was not signing checks. I think too many celebrities fall into this trap. They trust someone to do these things for them and when it comes to light that someone is not being paid properly, or being paid at all, then they realize they have to pay more attention to these things.

I agree, there's nothing in here that demonizes prince. If anything, I ended the book feeling like he was still such an enigma.

-

I think Mayte intentionally kept the focus on her own feelings about what was going on, and didn't delve to much into the phychological Whys of behind Prince's words and actions. For example, why he singled her out as an object of affection? Why did he react in a relatively unemotionally expressive way to her miscarriage? Why exactly did he do the whole house-in-Spain thing? Or the annulment? What exactly about Larry Graham and JH appealed to him? She doesn't spend much time speculating on his motivations or thought process one way or the other. I think that generally was a good choice.

-

But he does remain mysterious at the end; I can't say I know him better (I do know her better!). And I wonder if he was a bit of a mystery to her too, or if she was simply holding back.

precioux said:

Dibblekins said:

I've now read the whole book and intend to come in on the chapter-by-chapter discussion, if I may - but just a general observation:
.
Anyone avoiding this book for fear it demonises P should think again. It hasn't made me love him any less - not one bit - but it has made me respect Mayte and their relationship more.

.

In essence, what comes across is that, contrary to popular opinion, Prince wasn't some freak, ogre, or deity - he was just a man, a man muddling through life in his own way, as we all do.
.

Bless his heart - and thank you, Mayte, for sharing this incredibly moving account of your time together.

.

Hey Dibblekins! Good to see ya again

I think that's because P kept to himself a lot more than people can understand. He didn't let ANYONE see him vulnerable, or anything other than his best. Mayte said herself that he had 'do not enter' and so though they were very in love and as close as possible for them, they probably didn't share the unconditional intimacy that a 'typical' married couple shares. A relationship where that person is your diary and they see you good, bad, and ugly and can still see you romantically afterwards. It seems that any time Prince experienced 'ugly' he cleaned house instead of sticking around for the aftermath.

LBrent said:

amethyst68 said:

I think the way he presented or portrayed his love for Mayte to his fan (the audience) was fantasy and mythological but on a day to day basis, it didn't appear to be a fantasy. It's easy for us to see it as a fantasy because we aren't with them day to day, 24/7. But there's no way they saw their relationshp as a fantasy. There's no fantasy when you walk in the bathroom your woman just stanked up. There's no fantasy when you smell each other's morning breath. There's no fantasy when you recognize each other's faults. There seemed to be an honest and spiritual connection between the two of them. You can see it in their eyes. You could see it in the way they always had to be touching one anoher. That's real. How he chose to express it through music, movies, videos was the fantasy and kind of sweet.

I'm not articulating this well.

I'm not saying thier feelings were a fantasy or weren't genuine. What I'm saying is that the entire relationship took place in, firstly a purple bubble, then that morphed into a purple middle eastern/harem/genie in a bottle/paisley/exotic scented kingdom where lived the "prince and his princess".

An interveiwer a few days ago was obviously a fan and was very sweet to Mayte but when he asked about the reality of P being just a guy who sat on the couch in his boxers, scratching his butt or picking a booger, Mayte giggled and said "Nope, never happened". And I don't think she was saying it to be kind or keep a moment private. I think they were very into, for better or worse, maintaining "the fantasy/mythology" of an elegant existance where princes don't scratch thier butts or pick boogers and princesses don't "stink up the bathroom" or "have morning breath".

Hmmm...according to Mayte, they both wanted to go to Spain and that is how it was sold to her. Then the trips got fewer and further between and P never truly lived there. I think P projected what he wanted people to believe about his relationship with Mayte but I don't think she was lying. I think she would have stayed in MN if she knew P wasn't truly committed to Spain.

Ultimately, it seems that the JW thing was the true straw that broke the camels back. If Mayte had joined that train, things may have turned out differently.

amethyst68 said:

NickiStarr said:

Technically, he didn't leave her. He just banished her to Spain and started a new relationship with someone else...and used new female muses and proteges in his work. Smh.

Actually, that isn't the case. She wasn't "banished to Spain". They both wanted to find a get-away to heal and possibly get pregnant again. Prince, himself, said in an interview that being in Minneapolis was painful for Mayte...too many bad memories, therefore, she wanted to get away for a while to heal. He wasn't throwing his wife away, although, the space between them eventually was detrimental to their relationship.

With the utmost respect, read the book. That's all I have to say. You're entitled to your opinion, but you haven't read the book so...everything you say is kind of on hold until you have a true opinion and not just assumptions.

purplerabbithole said:

But she called it a love story and that it was intended to 'honor' prince. Not to sound rude, but a book about herself is not why people are reading it. If the book was called "My Life" and he wasn't on the cover and it just happened to have chapters about her first marriage, then I would agree with you. It might be more about herself than Prince, but that is kind of like false advertisement...bait and switch.

NickiStarr said:

I will say, without any spoilers, that the book truly is not ABOUT Prince. It's about Mayte and her life. It's a memoir about her life that happens to highlight her one and only marriage, her first love, first, and only biological co-parent, who happens to be to Prince. I adore Mayte Garcia as a person and admire her as a professional. Wait until after you read the book, then make a judgment. I promise Prince's privacy is not breached at all- to a frustrating degree for a curious fan like me who wants to know some secrets she probably knows and chose not to tell. She upheld their privacy and is a classy lady.

Hmmm...that may be, but P broke her heart and they were physically intimate. There are other rumors about her, but I won't digress. My point is, Mayte didn't acknowledge Nona as one of his lovers but she did Carmen. I imagine that Carmen and Nona were both the same thing Mayte was at first: a friend with benefits. Mayte was lucky that it developed into more.

amethyst68 said:

NickiStarr said:

I noticed Mayte had no problem mentioning Carmen Elektra and how she dated Prince. However, with Nona Gaye she was strictly business when she mentioned her. Hmmm...I wonder why she didn't note that the two of them were an item.

I think you may have answered your own question. I don't think they were ever as serious as some like to say they were. I've heard some close associates mention her and it was always in a business sense.

Thank you for this. I was confused about timelines as well. I'm impressed that he waited until she was 19. She was legal a year before that. I wonder what that was all about...

206Michelle said:

I know we haven't started discussing chapter seven yet. I have a hard time following the dates and chain of events in this chapter. Mayte skips around and/or is incorrect about some of the dates.

.

I went to Prince Vault (princevault.org) to confirm the dates of some of the events that she references in this chapter. I hope it's okay for me to post this information. The dates will obviously give a general idea of what is in chapter seven, and that's it. I'm not including any spoilers!

.

"Sexy M. F." single:

USA release - June 30, 1992

UK release - July 6, 1992

.

"My Name is Prince" single:

UK released – September 28, 1992

USA release - September 29, 1992

USA maxi-single release - October 22, 1992

UK remix single release - November 2, 1992

.

Love Symbol album:

UK release - October 5, 1992

USA release - October 13, 1992

.

"7" single:

USA release of 7 inch single - November 17, 1992

UK release - November 23, 1992

USA maxi-single release - December 3, 1992

.

Diamonds and Pearls Tour (Japan, Australia, Europe)

April 3, 1992 – July 12, 1992

.

Act I Tour (USA):

March 8, 1993 – April 17, 1993

.

Act II Tour (Europe):

July 26, 1993 – September 7, 1993

.

3 Chains o’ Gold comic book was released in 1993.

.

3 Chains o’ Gold video compilation was released in 1994.

.

Prince Vault did not have specific dates of release for the 3 Chains o' Gold comic book and video compilation, just the years.

206Michelle said:

DD55 said:

Chapter 7

Mayte verifies there is a LOT of stuff in the vault!! Music, videos and more.

.

She was paid very little and when she decided she couldn’t live on that amount of money and was going to go home, P asked her how much she made. He didn’t know? This is a guy in control of everything and everyone, the ‘tour accountant’ was the one that told her her pay would be docked for eating whipped cream. If he had a tour accountant, you know he would be checking to make sure his accounts were in order. Who signed off on payroll checks being cut every week? I think she was very naive. And either is still naive or even today protecting him by trying to dispel rumors that were going around about him underpaying his employees.

.

She has high praise for Morris Hayes.

.

He tells her after shooting a video that it’s time for her to get birth control. She is now officially his girl friend.

.

She talks about the stage dive she did when no one caught her. Dancing was strenuous work with lots of injuries along the way.

.

She was the first one he told that he was going to change his name to the symbol. She said ‘ok'. He replies that he knows that she is the only one that won’t try to talk him out of it.

.

She validates his ‘spiritual’ awakening with regard to the name change.

.

I think someone else mentioned how this chapter is a bit scattered… I wonder if that is due to the fact that he was in the WB / symbol name change period and she doesn’t want to tell the story from his point of view. That period of time was probably ‘all about him’ and I’m sure it was intense. Specific personal events, WB fights/meetings and some of his actions she probably felt best to leave out of the book.

.

~~DD55

Regarding the issues around pay, I also thought it was a bit odd that he didn't know how much she made. I don't really know what to make of his supposed ignorance about her salary. She also states in this chapter that he had a lot of people managing different things for him, so I pretty much took her story (about threatening to leave his world and him subsequently increasing her pay) at face value. But after reading your comment, DD55, I'm a bit more skeptical about the whole situation with her pay.

.

As far as who signed off on the checks every week for people working for Prince/Paisley Park Enterprises, it could have been him, but I wonder if maybe it was someone else. Given how often he travelled, I wonder how he would be able to sign off on all of those checks. So perhaps he delegated this authority to an accountant? I really don't know, though.

[Edited 4/12/17 11:22am]

His accounting staff may have handled the payroll. You don't have to physically sign a check. I work as a software developer and during my career I've been assigned the task of getting a department head's signature and scanning it into a computer where a computer program applies the signature on whatever documents needs it. More than likely the checks were automaticaaly produced with the scanned signature. Or maybe they had direct deposit. My job started using direct deposit in the early 1990's.

LBrent said:

I'm not articulating this well.

I'm not saying thier feelings were a fantasy or weren't genuine. What I'm saying is that the entire relationship took place in, firstly a purple bubble, then that morphed into a purple middle eastern/harem/genie in a bottle/paisley/exotic scented kingdom where lived the "prince and his princess".

An interveiwer a few days ago was obviously a fan and was very sweet to Mayte but when he asked about the reality of P being just a guy who sat on the couch in his boxers, scratching his butt or picking a booger, Mayte giggled and said "Nope, never happened". And I don't think she was saying it to be kind or keep a moment private. I think they were very into, for better or worse, maintaining "the fantasy/mythology" of an elegant existance where princes don't scratch thier butts or pick boogers and princesses don't "stink up the bathroom" or "have morning breath".

NickiStarr said:

I think that's because P kept to himself a lot more than people can understand. He didn't let ANYONE see him vulnerable, or anything other than his best. Mayte said herself that he had 'do not enter' and so though they were very in love and as close as possible for them, they probably didn't share the unconditional intimacy that a 'typical' married couple shares. A relationship where that person is your diary and they see you good, bad, and ugly and can still see you romantically afterwards. It seems that any time Prince experienced 'ugly' he cleaned house instead of sticking around for the aftermath.

Exactly!

Every couple doesn't feel the need to see each other poop in order to feel they're being "truly intimate", but in this case I feel like P didn't like upleasant and ugly and so tried to keep anything unpleasant away from his fantasy of the life he created.

I saw an article over the summer where, I think, P's chef or housekeeper(?) mentions that during the time she worked for him P didn't eat in front of others and she surmised that it was because he felt selfconcious like it was "ugly".

I remember thinking about that and goin Hmmmmm.

amethyst68 said:

I think you may have answered your own question. I don't think they were ever as serious as some like to say they were. I've heard some close associates mention her and it was always in a business sense.

NickiStarr said:

Hmmm...that may be, but P broke her heart and they were physically intimate. There are other rumors about her, but I won't digress. My point is, Mayte didn't acknowledge Nona as one of his lovers but she did Carmen. I imagine that Carmen and Nona were both the same thing Mayte was at first: a friend with benefits. Mayte was lucky that it developed into more.

When I thought about it, maybe Nona wasn't around in the same way (in Minnesota) as Carmen was.

Now that we sorta know a teeny bit of the heirarchy of the Purple Harem, maybe Nona wasn't at the Carmen level?

disch said:

I agree, there's nothing in here that demonizes prince. If anything, I ended the book feeling like he was still such an enigma.

-

I think Mayte intentionally kept the focus on her own feelings about what was going on, and didn't delve to much into the phychological Whys of behind Prince's words and actions. For example, why he singled her out as an object of affection? Why did he react in a relatively unemotionally expressive way to her miscarriage? Why exactly did he do the whole house-in-Spain thing? Or the annulment? What exactly about Larry Graham and JH appealed to him? She doesn't spend much time speculating on his motivations or thought process one way or the other. I think that generally was a good choice.

-

But he does remain mysterious at the end; I can't say I know him better (I do know her better!). And I wonder if he was a bit of a mystery to her too, or if she was simply holding back.

precioux said:

Hey Dibblekins! Good to see ya again

I'll bet that the annulment was so that in the eyes of the JWs, he would be free to marry M2. Mayte said in the SheKnows interview that the annulment was a spiritual annulment. I believe that the JWs take a similar view as Catholics about divorce and remarriage, where you would be committing adultery if got divorced and remarried, so you need to get an annulment to pretend that you were never married.

I read some of Mayte's account of Prince practically badgering her to sign the annulment doc. I really thought bad of him for that.

tmo1965 said:

disch said:

I agree, there's nothing in here that demonizes prince. If anything, I ended the book feeling like he was still such an enigma.

-

I think Mayte intentionally kept the focus on her own feelings about what was going on, and didn't delve to much into the phychological Whys of behind Prince's words and actions. For example, why he singled her out as an object of affection? Why did he react in a relatively unemotionally expressive way to her miscarriage? Why exactly did he do the whole house-in-Spain thing? Or the annulment? What exactly about Larry Graham and JH appealed to him? She doesn't spend much time speculating on his motivations or thought process one way or the other. I think that generally was a good choice.

-

But he does remain mysterious at the end; I can't say I know him better (I do know her better!). And I wonder if he was a bit of a mystery to her too, or if she was simply holding back.

I'll bet that the annulment was so that in the eyes of the JWs, he would be free to marry M2. Mayte said in the SheKnows interview that the annulment was a spiritual annulment. I believe that the JWs take a similar view as Catholics about divorce and remarriage, where you would be committing adultery if got divorced and remarried, so you need to get an annulment to pretend that you were never married.

I read some of Mayte's account of Prince practically badgering her to sign the annulment doc. I really thought bad of him for that.

JW doctrine teaches that in order to be divorced before the face of G*d, an adultery are the only acceptable grounds...but to gain an illegal anullment (P did not have the grounds for a legal anullment) would not satisfy the same requirement, neither spiritually nor legally.

I hear you -- we as readers/fans can apply our own thoughts about prince's motivations and reasoning; I thought it was an interesting choice for mayte not to offer too much of her own.

-

(The "annulment" thing has been talked about a lot here, and the gist is: It has no legal meaning in their circumstance. She never mentions that the "annulment" he was pursuring had a JW component (I don't know about JWs, but in the catholic church to get a catholic annulment, you have to go through certain specific church processes).

tmo1965 said:

disch said:

I agree, there's nothing in here that demonizes prince. If anything, I ended the book feeling like he was still such an enigma.

-

I think Mayte intentionally kept the focus on her own feelings about what was going on, and didn't delve to much into the phychological Whys of behind Prince's words and actions. For example, why he singled her out as an object of affection? Why did he react in a relatively unemotionally expressive way to her miscarriage? Why exactly did he do the whole house-in-Spain thing? Or the annulment? What exactly about Larry Graham and JH appealed to him? She doesn't spend much time speculating on his motivations or thought process one way or the other. I think that generally was a good choice.

-

But he does remain mysterious at the end; I can't say I know him better (I do know her better!). And I wonder if he was a bit of a mystery to her too, or if she was simply holding back.

I'll bet that the annulment was so that in the eyes of the JWs, he would be free to marry M2. Mayte said in the SheKnows interview that the annulment was a spiritual annulment. I believe that the JWs take a similar view as Catholics about divorce and remarriage, where you would be committing adultery if got divorced and remarried, so you need to get an annulment to pretend that you were never married.

I read some of Mayte's account of Prince practically badgering her to sign the annulment doc. I really thought bad of him for that.

Here are some more thoughts relating to the content of chapter seven:

On p. 149, Mayte writes about Prince's romantic side. He clearly liked romance. I'm currently married, and I can certainly speak to the reality that I think it's fair to say that being romantic served him very well as a musician (most notably as a songwriter), but was detrimental for his personal life and the longevity of he and Mayte's marriage.

.

Prior to reading this book, I had come to the conclusion that Mayte was one of Prince's more important collaborators/inspirations/protegees during his career. What lead me to this conclusion was a variety of things, but most notably music videos, footage of live performances (e.g. award shows), interviews, and songs. This book as a whole, and chapters 7 and 8 in particular, certainly support my conclusion about her importance.

.

Personally, I think that a lot of Prince fans underestimate/understate Mayte's importance in the Purple Universe. There is a tendency to label her primarily as his muse and ex-wife. Professionally, I think that she was more than just a muse---she was one of his most important collaborators and inspirations.

CMSantos71 said:

206Michelle said:

Regarding the issues around pay, I also thought it was a bit odd that he didn't know how much she made. I don't really know what to make of his supposed ignorance about her salary. She also states in this chapter that he had a lot of people managing different things for him, so I pretty much took her story (about threatening to leave his world and him subsequently increasing her) at face value. But after reading your comment, DD55, I'm a bit more skeptical about the whole situation with her pay.

.

As far as who signed off on the checks every week for people working for Prince/Paisley Park Enterprises, it could have been him, but I wonder if maybe it was someone else. Given how often he travelled, I wonder how he would be able to sign off on all of those checks. So perhaps he delegated this authority to an accountant? I really don't know, though.

.

There could've been a set rate of pay for dancers, singers etc... He asked for a report for everyone that was working for him at the time. This leads me to believe that 1. He did not know what everyone was being paid and 2. He was not signing checks. I think too many celebrities fall into this trap. They trust someone to do these things for them and when it comes to light that someone is not being paid properly, or being paid at all, then they realize they have to pay more attention to these things.

I thhink this is the likely scenario.

I think P was too busy being "Prince" to be intimately involved with the day to day hands on. he was paying other folks who wre supposed to keep up with that.

The same with her suddenly paying rent after the tour.

Everyone on the tour probably had their rent taken care of until they got back, not just her.

[Edited 4/12/17 12:45pm]

disch said:

I agree, there's nothing in here that demonizes prince. If anything, I ended the book feeling like he was still such an enigma.

-

I think Mayte intentionally kept the focus on her own feelings about what was going on, and didn't delve to much into the phychological Whys of behind Prince's words and actions. For example, why he singled her out as an object of affection? Why did he react in a relatively unemotionally expressive way to her miscarriage? Why exactly did he do the whole house-in-Spain thing? Or the annulment? What exactly about Larry Graham and JH appealed to him? She doesn't spend much time speculating on his motivations or thought process one way or the other. I think that generally was a good choice.

-

But he does remain mysterious at the end; I can't say I know him better (I do know her better!). And I wonder if he was a bit of a mystery to her too, or if she was simply holding back.

precioux said:

Hey Dibblekins! Good to see ya again

disch, I agree that she made a good choice to avoid speculation and to focus more on her own feelings about events and her interactions with Prince. When she does talk about the psychological Whys of his behavior, most of the time, she appears to be recalling experiences instead of speculating. Speaking generally, I think that sometimes he did communicate his thoughts behind what he was doing and other times he did not. For example, during the Love Symbol/3 Chains o' Gold era, she mentions that he was searching for other forms of self-expression, was doing some soul searching, and was questioning the relationship between the music industry and artists. She did not elaborate much on the soul searching and questioning that she mentions. Maybe she chose to keep his thoughts private, which is perfectly fine. On the other hand, perhaps she doesn't know much more about the soul searching and questioning than what she shares. He certainly was and remains a man of mystery in many respects.

.

To address your last sentence, I think that it's probably a combination of both factors (him being a mystery and her holding back).

NickiStarr said:

I think that's because P kept to himself a lot more than people can understand. He didn't let ANYONE see him vulnerable, or anything other than his best. Mayte said herself that he had 'do not enter' and so though they were very in love and as close as possible for them, they probably didn't share the unconditional intimacy that a 'typical' married couple shares. A relationship where that person is your diary and they see you good, bad, and ugly and can still see you romantically afterwards. It seems that any time Prince experienced 'ugly' he cleaned house instead of sticking around for the aftermath.

LBrent said:

I'm not articulating this well.

I'm not saying thier feelings were a fantasy or weren't genuine. What I'm saying is that the entire relationship took place in, firstly a purple bubble, then that morphed into a purple middle eastern/harem/genie in a bottle/paisley/exotic scented kingdom where lived the "prince and his princess".

An interveiwer a few days ago was obviously a fan and was very sweet to Mayte but when he asked about the reality of P being just a guy who sat on the couch in his boxers, scratching his butt or picking a booger, Mayte giggled and said "Nope, never happened". And I don't think she was saying it to be kind or keep a moment private. I think they were very into, for better or worse, maintaining "the fantasy/mythology" of an elegant existance where princes don't scratch thier butts or pick boogers and princesses don't "stink up the bathroom" or "have morning breath".

Nicki, I totally agree with you here. I think he and Mayte did share many emotionally intimate moments that were positive or pleasing. She touches on this in chapter 7 on p. 149 when she describes how he was romantic with her. In negative moments, he tended to withdraw instead of looking for emotional intimacy with Mayte.

tmo1965 said:

disch said:

I agree, there's nothing in here that demonizes prince. If anything, I ended the book feeling like he was still such an enigma.

-

I think Mayte intentionally kept the focus on her own feelings about what was going on, and didn't delve to much into the phychological Whys of behind Prince's words and actions. For example, why he singled her out as an object of affection? Why did he react in a relatively unemotionally expressive way to her miscarriage? Why exactly did he do the whole house-in-Spain thing? Or the annulment? What exactly about Larry Graham and JH appealed to him? She doesn't spend much time speculating on his motivations or thought process one way or the other. I think that generally was a good choice.

-

But he does remain mysterious at the end; I can't say I know him better (I do know her better!). And I wonder if he was a bit of a mystery to her too, or if she was simply holding back.

I'll bet that the annulment was so that in the eyes of the JWs, he would be free to marry M2. Mayte said in the SheKnows interview that the annulment was a spiritual annulment. I believe that the JWs take a similar view as Catholics about divorce and remarriage, where you would be committing adultery if got divorced and remarried, so you need to get an annulment to pretend that you were never married.

I read some of Mayte's account of Prince practically badgering her to sign the annulment doc. I really thought bad of him for that.

Do you happen to remember the press release? According to Prince, it was a spiritual thing, although weird and not fully understandable to anyone but himself. I don't think it had anything to do with him wanting to get out of his marriage with Mayte to be with another woman.

Also, did you read the book? She explains the argument they had after the press conference to announce wanting to "transcend" their marriage contract. The document she says he wanted her to sign was not a legal document. It was basically stating that she agreed they would dissolve their current marriage and re-marry with a baptism on their next wedding anniversary.

[Edited 4/12/17 13:36pm]

206Michelle said:

Here are some more thoughts relating to the content of chapter seven:

On p. 149, Mayte writes about Prince's romantic side. He clearly liked romance. I'm currently married, and I can certainly speak to the reality that I think it's fair to say that being romantic served him very well as a musician (most notably as a songwriter), but was detrimental for his personal life and the longevity of he and Mayte's marriage.

.

Prior to reading this book, I had come to the conclusion that Mayte was one of Prince's more important collaborators/inspirations/protegees during his career. What lead me to this conclusion was a variety of things, but most notably music videos, footage of live performances (e.g. award shows), interviews, and songs. This book as a whole, and chapters 7 and 8 in particular, certainly support my conclusion about her importance.

.

Personally, I think that a lot of Prince fans underestimate/understate Mayte's importance in the Purple Universe. There is a tendency to label her primarily as his muse and ex-wife. Professionally, I think that she was more than just a muse---she was one of his most important collaborators and inspirations.

Looking at things objectively, you can't help but come to that conclusion.

NickiStarr said:

Hmmm...that may be, but P broke her heart and they were physically intimate. There are other rumors about her, but I won't digress. My point is, Mayte didn't acknowledge Nona as one of his lovers but she did Carmen. I imagine that Carmen and Nona were both the same thing Mayte was at first: a friend with benefits. Mayte was lucky that it developed into more.

amethyst68 said:

I think you may have answered your own question. I don't think they were ever as serious as some like to say they were. I've heard some close associates mention her and it was always in a business sense.

From what Mayte describes in the book, she and Prince started out as friends and fellow artists. Their relationship becomes sexual in February of 1993, meaning that Prince and Mayte knew each other for about 2.5 years before they had sex. With how many of his other girlfriends/muses did he wait so long to have a sexual relationship?

LBrent said:

tmo1965 said:

I'll bet that the annulment was so that in the eyes of the JWs, he would be free to marry M2. Mayte said in the SheKnows interview that the annulment was a spiritual annulment. I believe that the JWs take a similar view as Catholics about divorce and remarriage, where you would be committing adultery if got divorced and remarried, so you need to get an annulment to pretend that you were never married.

I read some of Mayte's account of Prince practically badgering her to sign the annulment doc. I really thought bad of him for that.

JW doctrine teaches that in order to be divorced before the face of G*d, an adultery are the only acceptable grounds...but to gain an illegal anullment (P did not have the grounds for a legal anullment) would not satisfy the same requirement, neither spiritually nor legally.

Maybe Prince was the adulterer already? and thus it would be legal ,if what you write is correct

Well, lots of them, because, like Mayte, many were under age when they first met: Susannah, Anna Garcia, Robin Power. But yes, Mayte was special. Not saying she wasn't. He waited an additional year after she became legal and that says a lot. She did say that 'they had done more than shake hands' at the time of the infamous Carmen Elektra meeting where he shook her hand. So, they were more than just friends.

206Michelle said:

NickiStarr said:

Hmmm...that may be, but P broke her heart and they were physically intimate. There are other rumors about her, but I won't digress. My point is, Mayte didn't acknowledge Nona as one of his lovers but she did Carmen. I imagine that Carmen and Nona were both the same thing Mayte was at first: a friend with benefits. Mayte was lucky that it developed into more.

From what Mayte describes in the book, she and Prince started out as friends and fellow artists. Their relationship becomes sexual in February of 1993, meaning that Prince and Mayte knew each other for about 2.5 years before they had sex. With how many of his other girlfriends/muses did he wait so long to have a sexual relationship?

NickiStarr said:

Well, lots of them, because, like Mayte, many were under age when they first met: Susannah, Anna Garcia, Robin Power. But yes, Mayte was special. Not saying she wasn't. He waited an additional year after she became legal and that says a lot. She did say that 'they had done more than shake hands' at the time of the infamous Carmen Elektra meeting where he shook her hand. So, they were more than just friends.

206Michelle said:

From what Mayte describes in the book, she and Prince started out as friends and fellow artists. Their relationship becomes sexual in February of 1993, meaning that Prince and Mayte knew each other for about 2.5 years before they had sex. With how many of his other girlfriends/muses did he wait so long to have a sexual relationship?

It's not like he was waiting around not having sex...seems he had 2or 3 girls onthe go...smh