I was a lucky winner. I promised I’d share so here you go…

It’s 1am, I’ve got to my hotel room and wanted to try to capture the past few hours before I sleep off the alcohol and forget it all!

First things first, because we know you all wanna know…there was no Prince, or any of his familiar entourage. Okay, so now we have that out of the way, let me tell who was there and what it was like (as far as my champagne addled brain can remember at this time of night!)….

We arrived around 6.27 and were told that we couldn’t enter the room yet because there was something else going on, so we ordered a hideously expensive bottle of wine from the bar and as it was poured, the man who had said we couldn’t go in allowed the first other guests through. Tsk! Not wanting to waste the £38 we had spent on a (rather nice) bottle of Marlborough Sauv Blanc, we took our time so as not to look too eager, then necked our drinks when we could wait no longer (and had shared our “how we got into Prince stories”) and went through.

We gave our names to the necessary people (from Simon & Schuster we later learnt), then gave our coats in at the cloakroom, which was hidden by a stunning A0 (I think) print of Prince slung in his oh-so-sexy-but-casual way over a piano. As Catpark then excitedly pointed out, said piano was right at the side of the photo in question. Cue excited gushing from girls,and manly grunts of acknowledgement from boys. We then went up a small but perfectly formed spirally staircase with a fabulous chandelier where, at the top, we were greeted by another stunning photograph from the book which featured a very “bling” diamond encrusted (one assumes!) symbol on a diamond encrusted chain. The chain is held by a woman, but all one can see are her lips pursed, and the hand holding the chain/symbol, which is the clear focus of the photo (more of this to follow).

We then take a glass of champers, and enter the main room, which is minimalist, but each table has a glass vase filled with purple orchids upon it (along with nibbles). There is a podium in the back left corner, and a screen that is on a loop playing what must be shots from the book. One particularly stunning one was of Prince standing out atop some kind of cathedral (?) after a rainfall. Yummy yummy…he still got it going on, I don’t care HOW old he is!

Mingle mingle to the sounds of Prince’s shows last year…we notice that people are flicking through the book and locate several copies that are being “guarded” by a very nice man. When we ask about them, we learn that there are open copies which can be browsed, but to buy a sealed copy is £30 (RRP despite being available on some websites in the UK for significantly less than this). Swift negotiation follows, explaining who we are and that there are a number of us wanting to buy copies in the hope that Randee will sign them. It’s cash or cheque only and there is very little negotiation on the price sadly. Still,we’re suckers so we all succumb because we have had a quick chat with the very shy Randee, who has promised that she will sign copies.

Randee is a petite, attractive lady, who is very humble but also willing to talk about her time with Prince. Turns out she’s known him a long time and it was he who sought her out to take photos for this book. She spent the whole 21 nights with him (I don’t think in that sense!) and the book is in chronological order. There are very few photos of the actual gigs (I’ve had a quick flick through so this may be inaccurate) and Randee admitted that Prince gave her a hard time about her “gig” shots, claiming they all looked too staged. We figure that is a compliment….she just took some fabulous shots! Randee was not responsible for the photos that became posters at some of the later shows…I know this because I ask and the response is how I got to find out the above information! Randee tells us that Prince was very relaxed and let her do her thing because she was the expert in that particular field. She is complimentary about him, gracious and grateful for having been given the opportunity to work with him, but it’s clear that she was given some licence to exercise her artistic capabilities.

As we’re negotiating on the book price with a representative from the PR agency (a very nice lady who is respectful, not mocking, of us fans!), the podium in the corner comes to life. A gentleman speaks about why the Dorchester has been chosen for this occasion (obvious reasons to even the most naïve of fans I would think?), showers the object of the occasion with compliments, and introduces Randee, who speaks very quietly and briefly about her experience with the Purple One. A short video is then shown to the music of The 1 U Wanna C which lasts around 2 ½ mins, showing a number of photos from the book.

We seal the deal on our copies of the book – not great but as we are told, we have the opportunity of Randee signing them for us, and she was very willing to do so, as well as pose for photos. A lovely lady who surely has far more secrets than she’s willing to share about the Enigma that is Prince. Photos may follow when John/Chris send them to me and I veto them to make sure they’re suitable for public consumption!

We compliment Randee on the photo of the symbol on a chain and she tells us that the woman in the photo is Michelle Gayle (with whom she’d worked in the past). Cue a very slim Michelle Gayle who is equally willing to have her photo taken with us in front of said photo. It transpires that the photo was Randee’s idea and it was all done in rather a hurry because Prince wanted the chain back as he was going out! Michelle tells us what a huge fan she’s always been, and how honoured she felt to have held that chain in her hands before it was handed back to the man himself. Randee also tells us that this copy of the photo she is going to give as a gift to Michelle. Sam prompts drops her foot in it by telling Michelle this who, up to this point, was not aware. Cue much gushing from said celeb. Damnit…we could have taken it, she wouldn’t have even known!

After a quick chat and photo call (yup, we were all very sad but the people were so nice!), someone spots another Prince-related person. In has walked Beverley Knight, wearing a stunning little number featuring white feathers (probably not explaining it well...it was lovely!). By this time, we have had rather too much free champers and I know I am going to say it but can’t quite stop myself….as some of you reading this will know, one of my friends and colleagues went to Wolverhampton Uni with Beverley Knight, and when she learnt I was a Prince fan, proceeded to tell me that BK was a HUGE Prince fan and had posters of him all over her walls in the halls of residence. Just in case you weren’t there on 10th August, I was telling anyone who would listen and shedding lots of tears of happiness for Beverley, knowing that, deep down, she was a fan just like the rest of us. To be on stage with him truly was a dream come true. So I tell Beverley this and she is so very down to earth about it all that you can’t help but like her. I ask if she’s played with him since and she tells us he flew her out to the States for something earlier this year (I’m sorry, it’s really late and I can’t remember the event!). She also poses for a photo and scribbles in several of our books before dashing off with her fella, telling us she is starving!

Finally the crowds start to dwindle (although it’s gone well beyond the time the invitation said it would finish), so we head back downstairs to collect our coats. And, of course, each recreate the Prince pose at the piano. Not sure that those photos will make it onto here as we were very much the worse for wear by this point, but it was fun until we were ushered out by a prim and proper chappie who had been very accommodating but clearly thought we were pushing our luck.

The photo of Prince at the piano that was on display has been donated to the Dorchester by Randee, and despite our begging, it appears that they want to keep it. Pity.

As we leave the event, high on champers and Prince-related celeb chats, we are treated to the sounds of Prince tunes by the pianist out in the main hall. Doesn’t compare to our impromptu rendition of Girls and Boys back upstairs, but nice of him to indulge us.

No Prince, no familiar faces from the tour (apart from Beverly, briefly), but still, a fantastic night with great people and a huge huge thanks to Gavin at HQ for organising this for me. If I had to make a teeny complaint, it would be that the room was small and seriously lacking in huge poster sized reprints from the book, but the two that were there fitted well with the understated (perhaps surprisingly so) nature of the event and the loop of photos that was playing showed the stunning creature that is Prince in all his glory.

If you are expecting to see yourself in the book, you will probably be disappointed. From the brief flick though I’ve done, this seems to be very much a self indulgence…but hey, when you’re so beautiful, why the hell not? Enjoy your copies, I’m off to bed to drool over mine right now.

Thanks again HQ for a fabulous opportunity. I am most grateful and still rather drunk at this ungodly hour (not to mention tired!) 

Thanks 4 the review.

Good write up, thanks for posting

Prob. worth saying who Michelle Gayle is for non-UKers, she's an actress and pop-star, who peaked in the 90s in soap operas and a few chart hits.

You have the same thread here already http://prince.org/msg/7/284262. Must of had too much bubbly