PennyPurple said:

I agree. And was disappointed her parents didn't step up and say anything to her about that. I think they were kinda holding out for the big paycheck

bsprout said:

Yes. This and "the girl on the way out gets moved out of town. The girl on the way in moved into PP"

CMSantos71 said:

I finished the book a few days ago and am now listening to it. Listening to her voice as she narrates the book has my emotions everywhere. As I said the other day, this booked moved my soul in a wierd way. Maybe because I can relate to Mayte in some ways? I don't know. They had such a deep bond and love for each other. I truly believe Prince didn't let anyone else in the way he let Mayte in. Not many people experience this kind of love and I can understand why she waited for him and never really moved on. He was it...the one. While we will never know how he felt, I believe he carried her in his heart tucked away. I am glad she wrote this book and hope it helps her to heal her broken heart. She went through alot and the fact she can smile at the end of the day says alot about her.

I agree about Mayte's narration. I've never once listened to an audio book before now but I downloaded the audio version after seeing so many people comment on it in reviews. Mayte's voice really makes the words on the page come to life. The emotion in her voice is enough to bring you to tears at times. Chapter 9 - my gosh!! She should consider doing voiceover work.

Oh, I agree. I wouldn't have done it. To me, it's suspect just like MJ hanging with kids is suspect but some people overlook certain things for various reasons. I have a guy friend who always tells me that men don't want to be friends with beautiful women. Every male friend a woman has deep down wants to be something more and is just waiting (and hoping) for the right opportunity. This is exactly what Prince did. He waited for her to become of age and got his prize. Look at it anyway you choose but that's the truth. Luckily, (or perhaps not) he married her. Maybe if she was just a short term GF she wouldn't have had so much heartache. Who knows?? The good thing is that he def loved her. No one can see he was being a "typical guy" going affer sex. For whatever reason they couldn't get past the losses they suffered.

206Michelle said:

dreamer218 said:

I agree with this... I def think that her parents were 100% focused on Prince helping her career. Mayte's dancing wasn't a hobby. She was making serious money. I think her follks thought P could take her to the next level. I don't believe that they initially thought anything romantic would happen. I wonder now if her parents would make a different choice if they had to do it all over again. (knowing what they know now) Mayte basically gave up her dancing career (in Europe) when she was clearly going somewhere. I'm also curious why she didn't go back to Europe and try to restart her belly dancing career. Maybe being 26 was too old??

dreamer218, I more or less came to the same conclusion, that meeting Prince would be helpful for Mayte's career. Still, it was very risky on their part to let her, a 16-year-old, spend time alone with Prince, a man twice her age.

kmama07 said:

bsprout said:

The way Mayte describes the 'handshake' metaphor in the book when referring to Prince's preferred girlfriend of the moment is chilling.

Yes. This and "the girl on the way out gets moved out of town. The girl on the way in moved into PP"

Yeah, that was messed up.

purplerabbithole said:

He DID break his vows to her...and the karmic blow-back was monumental. I still can't wrap my head around how the JW's accepted adultery, cruelty, lack of responsibility, and deception as OK...Maybe Larry that great "spiritual' guide can explain...but I'm not holding my breath.

It's funny because Katherine Jackson is a devout JW and she's accepted Joe Jackson's adultry and other bad behavior for decades. I don't think he's a JW though so I'm not sure if that makes it different? But like KJ doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving. She celebrates it the day before with the family to not break her religious convictions. I always thought that was odd because if you believe and follow something then you should honor that committment wholeheartedly. All of this came to mind when I read about Prince, Mani and Larry being devout JW followers but P and Mani were carrying on like they were. I guess some JW pick what suits them and quietly ignore certain parts. But as you said karma took care of it in the end. What's done in the dark always comes to light as my grandma used to say.

Regarding chapter five, just some thoughts:

First, Mayte was incredibly accomplished as a dancer. I don't have much of a background in dance. I took some dance classes here and there. I love to dance to music in the car and at home. But her world of dance is new to me. Music and dance are natural partners, so I can understand how she and Prince naturally gravitated toward one another and developed a relationship that was all-encompassing---artistic, friendship, romantic, and professional. It's also obvious that hse's fluent in 3 languages, which I knew, but I can see why now. She spent so much of her childhood in Germany.

.

It was interesting reading about the filming of the "Diamonds and Pearls" video. I would have guessed that Prince chose who would be cast in the video, as he did in most other aspects of his world, but according to Mayte, the director, Rebecca Blake, called the shots when it came to casting in the video.

.

I've never seen "3 Chains 'o Gold" in its entirely, jsut some of the individual videos. I thought it was very interesting how the filming for 3CoG more or less ebbed and flowed with what Prince wanted, like there wasn't a defined structure to the filming. He jsut had money like that where he could hire people to just go film or make music or travel.

.

It's interesting that she says she joined the NPG in 1994 (p. 120). I thought that she was a member of the NPG earlier than that because she was on the D&P tour, Act I, and Act II tours.

kmama07 said:

bsprout said:

The way Mayte describes the 'handshake' metaphor in the book when referring to Prince's preferred girlfriend of the moment is chilling.

Yes. This and "the girl on the way out gets moved out of town. The girl on the way in moved into PP"

Yep, I connected these two metaphors/behaviors also...they seem to go hand in hand.

Dini said:

The book is excellent. I read it in 1.5 days. It is a labor of love - I truly believe that. I have no doubt that some of it is aspirational, rather than factual, but I understand. It is beautifully written and completely respectful.

What do you mean when you say aspirational, rather than factual?

Just a thought:

My hunch/feeling/guess is that part of Mayte's motivation for doing this book was to set some things straight and also to give her son an identity and preserve his memory. For 20 years, he was "Boy Gregory," son of and Mayte, who had Pfeiffer Syndrome, type 2, and died shortly after birth. I'm not giving away anything about him when I say what I'm about to say, don't worry, I know he hasn't entered the picture yet in the book. I think that this book is her way of preserving his memory. If Prince destroyed everything reminding him of Myte and Amiir, I wonder, does Mayte even have any photos of Amiir remaining? I don't know for sure, but just putting the peices together from what she shares in the book, she may not have much of anything left to remind her of him...except for her memories. I will talk more about this later when we discuss chapter 9.

Why a new tell-all from Prince’s ex-wife isn’t a sordid cash-in

http://www.macleans.ca/cu...d-cash-in/

Are you actually implying that Prince deserved to die because of some kind of bad karma in terms of his treatment of Mayte? Cold.

dreamer218 said:

purplerabbithole said:

It's funny because Katherine Jackson is a devout JW and she's accepted Joe Jackson's adultry and other bad behavior for decades. I don't think he's a JW though so I'm not sure if that makes it different? But like KJ doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving. She celebrates it the day before with the family to not break her religious convictions. I always thought that was odd because if you believe and follow something then you should honor that committment wholeheartedly. All of this came to mind when I read about Prince, Mani and Larry being devout JW followers but P and Mani were carrying on like they were. I guess some JW pick what suits them and quietly ignore certain parts. But as you said karma took care of it in the end. What's done in the dark always comes to light as my grandma used to say.

[Edited 4/10/17 3:45am]

purplerabbithole said:

dreamer218 speaks specifically about adultery and the fact that while he and Manuela carried on, he was still legally married to Mayte. This behavior is not accepted in the JW faith... (Genesis 39:7-9) "sin against God". So, the fact that Prince broke his vows to Mayte, there was "karmic retribution", so to speak, when Manuela divorced Prince. Had nothing to do with Prince dying (the manner and mode). That is how I interpret this but dreamer can clarify their intent.

Backtracking a bit.....something that wasn't mentioned from Chap 4 was when Prince was especially excited about sharing a new song (or whatever it was he wanted to share) with Mayte, that he would buy AN AIRPLANE SEAT for the tape, etc., rather than mail via FedEx or other carrier.

Couple thoughts about that are 1) the man must have spent a small fortune on his correspondence with Mayte, and 2) do they actually place the inanimate object, cassette tape for ex., on a seat and strap it in? Now, I have taken a few plane rides and never, have I ever, sat next to a cassette tape. Or a video tape. Or a cd. Just how is this handled?

Ok....back to Chap 5! Thanks for indulging me!

NotACleverName said:

😆

purplerabbithole said:

Are you actually implying that Prince deserved to die because of some kind of bad karma in terms of his treatment of Mayte? Cold.

[Edited 4/10/17 3:45am]

Please don't bring your twists and turns over here. You already have a thread for that.

This thread is discussing the actual book, with NO insults. Thank you

.

http://prince.org/msg/5/439994

I will say this. I finished the book last night. Very sad...While I will always love Prince and his music, it's upsetting how he handled some things.

.

Everybody ready for Chapter 6?

[Edited 4/10/17 7:35am]

annalizer said:

NotACleverName said:

Backtracking a bit.....something that wasn't mentioned from Chap 4 was when Prince was especially excited about sharing a new song (or whatever it was he wanted to share) with Mayte, that he would buy AN AIRPLANE SEAT for the tape, etc., rather than mail via FedEx or other carrier. Couple thoughts about that are 1) the man must have spent a small fortune on his correspondence with Mayte, and 2) do they actually place the inanimate object, cassette tape for ex., on a seat and strap it in? Now, I have taken a few plane rides and never, have I ever, sat next to a cassette tape. Or a video tape. Or a cd. Just how is this handled? Ok....back to Chap 5! Thanks for indulging me!

😆

I have paid to put a package on a greyhound bus but I never actually bought a seat for it ..lol

rap said:

Why a new tell-all from Prince’s ex-wife isn’t a sordid cash-in

http://www.macleans.ca/cu...d-cash-in/

good read ...I was wondering if P was wearing Mayte's clothes in the photo

206Michelle said:

LBrent said:

I did something really dumb and listened to some songs from the "handshake era" and now all I wanna do is punch P.

What an azzhat.

I hate feeling this way about him, but...

Whatever you do, don't listen to She Spoke To Me.

Whatever you do, don't listen to She Loves Me For Me, either.

P

[Edited 4/7/17 21:44pm]

LBrent,

I totally get what U are saying about She Loves Me 4 Me. But What's wrong with She Spoke to Me? That song is from 1996. Am I missing something about She Spoke to Me?

..

U know what made me mad at him and want 2 slap him was seeing that note he wrote 2 Mayte in 1994-1995 when he writes " will never leave u" over and over again. (I still haven't gotten 2 chapter 6 yet, where that note is, but I was flipping through the pages of the book and came across that note, and it caught my because of all the in it.) At first, I was like, wow, this note is so loving...and it really is. But then I think about what happened 2 them and, I mean seriously Prince, how can u write that kind of a note 2 a woman and then 4 years later u are asking for an "annulment"? I realize that 4 years is kind of a long time, and they dealt with losing a child, and all of that. But the way he wrote that note, he sounded so firm in his conviction that he would love Mayte forever. Except 4 his love of music and guitars, he was very fickle about many things, including the women he loved.

Once P got with th JW, his convictions changed and he viewed that type of admiration for someone as "idolatry" which is a big no no with the JW's (and many other religious beliefs)

80tomato said:

Haha. I wondered that as well! I also think the article is terrific and it pretty much sums up my opinion of the book. I'm glad she was able to write it and hope it brings her some peace.

NotACleverName said:

purplerabbithole said:

Are you actually implying that Prince deserved to die because of some kind of bad karma in terms of his treatment of Mayte? Cold.

[Edited 4/10/17 3:45am]

dreamer218 speaks specifically about adultery and the fact that while he and Manuela carried on, he was still legally married to Mayte. This behavior is not accepted in the JW faith... (Genesis 39:7-9) "sin against God". So, the fact that Prince broke his vows to Mayte, there was "karmic retribution", so to speak, when Manuela divorced Prince. Had nothing to do with Prince dying (the manner and mode). That is how I interpret this but dreamer can clarify their intent.

Not to be pedantic but Prince was baptised as a Jehovah Witness in 2003, studying the New World Translation for years before converting so technically, the brotha didn't break his vows to Mayte in the faith.

bashraka said:

Not to be pedantic but Prince was baptised as a Jehovah Witness in 2003, studying the New World Translation for years before converting so technically, the brotha didn't break his vows to Mayte in the faith.

Is that in the book? Because that is what we are discussing on this thread.

NotACleverName said:

Backtracking a bit.....something that wasn't mentioned from Chap 4 was when Prince was especially excited about sharing a new song (or whatever it was he wanted to share) with Mayte, that he would buy AN AIRPLANE SEAT for the tape, etc., rather than mail via FedEx or other carrier. Couple thoughts about that are 1) the man must have spent a small fortune on his correspondence with Mayte, and 2) do they actually place the inanimate object, cassette tape for ex., on a seat and strap it in? Now, I have taken a few plane rides and never, have I ever, sat next to a cassette tape. Or a video tape. Or a cd. Just how is this handled? Ok....back to Chap 5! Thanks for indulging me!

I thought the same thing, then upon thinking about it some more I would bet there was a person holding the package. Surely he wouldn't want to risk the chance of the package getting into the wrong hands. And after all, someone had to bring it on and off the plane. So either she didn't know the person, or didn't want to name them, or who knows how it happened, but she could have been more clear on the logistics on how this happened. Just my thoughts on the matter.

Peace,

~~DD55

Well it's interesting that practically everything that was discussed on the org and other places over the years were discussed in the book.

DD55 said:

Very good point, DD55! Yes, I agree. The lack of an "escort" for the work product would leave open too many possibilities. Thanks for your insight.

annalizer said:

purplerabbithole said:

Why was he manipulative? Was it just that He just wanted to get this girl in the sack at 19 because he knew eventually he would be able to ruin a highly lucrative career as a belly dancer, marry her and use his defective genes to give her the biggest heartbreak of her life.

Maybe he meant that soulmate stuff at the time he said it but couldn't proceed right away because of her age and other circumstances. As for the other women, I really don't know what he told them. Obviously, he thought he was in for the long haul with Mayte. They knew each ten years, got married and attempted to have kids twice.

Prince did know his future intentions with Mayte the first time he saw her. He used the same techniques with other women he was interested in and it worked. Mayte was a belly dancer/ballerina, but how many times did she actually use those skills on stage and/or videos? He did not know exactly how the future between them would turn out but he had a better understanding of how it "could" go than Mayte did because he's setting it up like he always did with the women he was most interested in. Prince had a formula, get pretty girl he finds interesting, find a place for her in the band by encouraging her to sing/dance even though he and they knew they were mediocre, (Mayte could actually dance) produce an ok album. After about two years, the shininess of the relationship wears off and and becomes real, its time to hit the bricks! [Edited 4/9/17 9:25am] [Edited 4/9/17 9:28am] [Edited 4/9/17 9:30am]

...and Mayte noticed this well before they were a couple. Example: The "purple" house was painted and redone every couple of years, along with a matching car. Mayte even stated that his entire life took on an entire "wardrobe change" every couple of years. I'm sure she didn't think she'd ever be part of that recurring sequence, and that's what makes me feel bad for her

morningsong said:

Well it's interesting that practically everything that was discussed on the org and other places over the years were discussed in the book.

Morningsong, Yes, you are right. Although I wasn’t on the org until he passed, I’ve read several old threads (some are hilarious by the way). So back to your point, yes practically everything has been discussed and that’s what makes all the hate and ‘scandal’ so silly in many ways. JMHO

precioux said:

I feel the same way. I don't care what a person decides to do if it only involves themselves, but when Prince deliberately involved Mayte and expected her to go along with his wishes, then he crossed the line because his words and actions, in effect, caused her words and actions, therefore creating several unfortunate outcomes.😔

Bodhitheblackdog said:

206Michelle said:

I just want to get this out of my head. I'll stay vague because I don't want to spoil the book for others. We all know how the story ends for Prince. Any details I spill on here have either (a) already been mentioned by others on this thread or (b) been the subject of a lot of speculation on prince.org.

--

First, I'm so glad I read this book. It was phenomenal. It wasn't Mayte's job to bring me closure. It's my job to figure that out for myself. But she made my job a hell of a lot easier.

--

Before reading this book, I had a lot of questions about Prince's death, and those questions bothered me, kept me up at night. At times, my wondering about Prince has consumed me. I've lost sleep over it.

Since I finished the book (less than 12 hours ago), do I still have questions? Yes.

Do I still think about what might have been? Yes. But I feel a lot of resolution, an inner peace, in my mind.

These questions and what-might-have-beens, the spiritual questions about fate and God's will and so forth, about why did he have to go through something as horrible as losing his son, these don't consume me the way that it they have for the past almost a year.

--

Am I sad Prince is gone? Yes. Every day. I never met him, but I MISS him. A small peice of my world left when he died. I have a number of memories tied to Prince, and I really liked his music before he died. But I was a casual fan. Had some of his songs, but none of his albums (not even Purple Rain, and there's a story behind why I didn't buy it.) Since he died, I've become obsessed. And it comes down to mainly one song that he wrote: Diamonds and Pearls. The man who created the song "Diamonds and Pearls," a song which has SO MUCH personal significance to me, is gone. This is a song that my husband introduced to me when we were dating. I wanted Diamonds and Pearls to be the first dance song at our wedding in July 2015 because I felt like it was "our song." But it wasn't our first dance song because my husband disagreed. (That's a story in and of itself.) So I put it on the list of songs for the DJ to play at the reception. I never heard it. The DJ may have played it before I got to the wedding reception. I don't know. I should ask people. My husband and I danced to "You and I" by Stevie Wonder, and it was fitting, because I grew up with that song. I've listened to the Talking Book album from which You and I comes since I was a little girl. Stevie is my favourite musician of all time. Prince is a close second. But I still wish the first dance song had been Diamonds and Pearls. I wish that moment of our wedding had been a Prince-filled moment. It wasn't. That hurts. It would have been a perfect compliment to the purple flowers (our colors were ivory, purple, and silver). The fact that we didn't do the first dance to Diamonds and Pearls hurst even more because Prince is gone now. Oh well. It's over. It's done. Maybe when we have a 10th anniversary celebration, we can dance to it. But guess what, the song will never die! Prince's music will never die! (Thanks for bearing with me while I had this stream of consiousness moment.)

--

Now back to the book.

Do I wish I could bring Prince back. Yes.

Do I still think he had life left in him? Yes.

Do I think he was suffering at the end of his life. Yes.

Do I think he was in pain? Yes.

Do I think he was addicted to painkillers. It's entirely possible. And if he was? So what? It happens. Doesn't make him a bad person. It means he was sick and needed help. I think of addiction as a disease, not a character flaw. The character flaw comes from not seeking help for addiction. He wasn't the rock and roll musician who was strung out on drugs. Never was. Anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong.

--

He was a musician who dealt with a lot of pain. Before I read and finished this book, it bothered me that he was in pain.

It bothered me that his only child, his only beloved son, died.

It bothered me that he never had any other children, because I think that this was a dream unfulfilled. It bothered me that he didn't know how to seek help for his problems.

--

Guess what. These things don't bother me anymore. I still have the questions, but they don't consume me. I'm sad he lost his son, it breaks my heart. It does. There is nothing worse than losing a child.

--

I believe in God. I believe God has a plan. And part of God's plan is giving people free will. Prince made choices. He made a lot of good choices and he made a lot of BAD CHOICES. And he paid for the bad choices. They came back to bite him. What goes around comes around.

--

But the dream of having children that went unfulfilled? That was his fault. He and Mayte could have had more children. IF not biological, they could have adopted children. But they didn't. Why? Because Prince did Mayte dirty. He turned his back on her. He was unfaithful to her (at the very least emotionally, and possibly sexually).

--

A LOT OF THE ISSUES HE HAD LATER IN LIFE, HE BROUGHT THEM ON HIMSELF BY THE CHOICES THAT HE MADE.

The fact that he died alone in an elevator with his clothes on backwards and his socks inside out.

The fact that help didn't come fast enough and was too late to help him. The fact that he may have been lonely at the end of his life. He brought these on himself with his bad choices. He refused to seek help. He turned his back on the woman, Mayte, who would have stayed with him. He let her slip through his fingers because of his own flaws. He listened to Larry Graham instead of his wife. This man who told Mayte repeatedly " will never leave u," did not keep his word. He broke his promise to her. And guess what? He paid for it down the road.

Everything that happened between he and Manuela. He brought it on himself. Never should have become involved with her. Never should have married her. She was an opportunitst, still is, and she bit him big time. The $600,000+ that he owes Patrick Cousins, the divorce lawyer, his fault. All the money he paid to Mani in the divorce, his fault. HE BROUGHT HIM ON HIMSELF!!! He was a married man...YOU DON'T SEE OTHER WOMEN. You don't make a steamy video for the "Greatest Romance Ever Sold" while still married to Mayte. You don't disrespect your wife like that.

--

He lost all sympathy from me and a lot of respect for how he conducted himself in relationships, especially with Mayte, based on this book. But I'm glad I know the truth. I still love him. Still respect him in many areas, just not how he conducted himself in relationships. I won't stop being a fan. I'm listening to his music just as I did yesterday, and the day before yesterday, and for many years before this one.

--

I knew he was flawed before I read the book. I know he is flawed after reading the book. He was a flawed genius. I don't like all of the flaws. But he was human. He didn't kill ayone. He didn't rape anyone. He didn't abuse children. Those three things, I can't deal with those. I might listen to the person's music, but I can't really celebrate the person if he/she did any of those three things. He didn't do any of those things, so I can still be a fan of him. He did a lot of great things in his life. He was a musical genius. When he was a father, he was a fabulous father, and that warmed my heart. If having children was an unfulfilled dream of his, it was his fault. It was his fault that he didn't because he abandoned Mayte. He wrote to her, "if they're not your babies, ain't havin' none!" Whether he felt that way later in life or not, who knows. But he kept his word. As a husband, he had some good moments, but he blew it. He was flawed. He let his true love go.

--

I liked Mayte before I read the book. Respected her. Felt bad for her because of losing her son, the miscarriage, and losing her marriage. All these things, I still feel. I feel bad for Mayte that she had to go through all that crap with . But she seems to be in a good place in her life now, loving her second chance at motherhood. She's gotten a chance to tell her story. Things didn't end well for her and Prince. But that happens sometimes. It sucks that his bad choices had such a negative effect on her. But I have enormous love and respect for her. The book was phenomenal. She wrote it with class. It was a great read.

--

Even before I read the book, Prince's music told me that Mayte was the love of his life. Songs like "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," "Let's Have a Baby, "Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife," and even "The One," make this clear to me. "Let's Have a Baby" and "Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife," on their own stand out in feeling, depth, and devotion. To me, Mayte has a place in the Prince universe is alongside Sheila E, the Revolution, and the core members of the NPG. Prince's music proves that she was his true love. The love songs he wrote for her are unmatched and proof that of all the women he loved, he loved her the most intensely. She will always be a big part of his story.

Thanks for sharing this, my thoughts exactly. He never wrote songs for other women that had the depth, passion, gratitude and joy of those songs he wrote for Mayte. Especially important to note is that with science (also from God) and/or adoption he could have been a father of healthy children. He DID break his vows to her...and the karmic blow-back was monumental. I still can't wrap my head around how the JW's accepted adultery, cruelty, lack of responsibility, and deception as OK...Maybe Larry that great "spiritual' guide can explain...but I'm not holding my breath. As for M2...she'll get hers...the laws of the universe always prevail.

Could it be that P's presentation of the "annulment" was the JW's way of overriding the adultery?