Did anyone read the Daily Mail accounts of this book? P is not coming off well at all. I am not saying these flaws aren't real but I do believe that the DM got a hold of the manuscript and cherry-picked the worst tidbits of the book and placed them in the article...leaving out anything approaching nuance, warmth or sympathy.

I do think Prince shouldn't have been a guardian for a sexy 16 year old but I do believe nothing happened right away and that the DM is kind of leaving out the fact that she worked for him as a dancer (so being fined for weight gain, living in his house, and being under his guardianship--although certainly controlling, were also a product of her time as an employee of his.) Plus, the parents could have stepped in at any time to rescue their daughter if it were that bad. They didn't turn on Prince until he dumped her. So he must have been treading pretty lightly in the beginning--at least I hope so. If not, then her parents need to be held up to scrutiny as well.

I think when the other party is dead (I mean Prince here) what he "might want" doesn't carry as much weight anymore. Sort of the nature of death, it seems.

-

As for describing her child's appearance, I read the People excerpt and through the description, while incredible sad, was tasteful and not overly lurid. (I don't know what the rest of the book says.) I don't think, in general, that never speaking of these sort of conditions publicly is necessarily the right position to take. Sadly, there are many children born with conditions that affect them physically and are sometimes even fatal. I don't think people should feel like this can't be spoken of openly and honestly.

BillieBalloon said:

GimmeThat said:

Word. I don't understand why she shouldn't make money from selling a book that tells her story.

What if the other party didnt want their story sold and valued his privacy alo ng with that of his dead son? Children have a right to privacy also and its not necessary to describe a childs physical appearance and share it with the world in a way that will inevitably cause morbid curiosity. Many many celebrities keep their children out of the public eye.

luv4u said:

Not buying/reading any magazines nor buying/reading the book either.

I would rather remember Prince as he was. Honour and Respect.

Well to be honest, we probably know just about everything in that book, because it has all been discussed on this forum at some point & time. Why everyone is in an uproar, is beyond me, when those very people have discussed his entire life for years, on this forum.

One thing I didn't know is that Mayte has been diagnosed with MS.

purplerabbithole said:

PennyPurple said:

benni said:

Prince sang about love, gave love in his music, and talked about love, and it's sad that some in his main fanbase only dish out hate. I think Prince would be more disheartened by that than anything else. He never spoke poorly of Mayte, so what gives any one else the right to do so? He never spoke poorly of Mani, or of Sheila, or Denise, or any of the women he was with; so what gives his fanbase the right to do so? To me, that is more dishonorable to the memory of our man than Mayte's book.

Well Said!

PennyPurple said:

Just pre-ordered the book from Barnes & Noble. $18.41 the signed copies were also $18.41 but were already sold out.

Yeah. I don't think I got a signed one either. Any idea if she's going to do a signing tour?

SweetKathleen said:

sonshine said:

Something else for the haters to consider: If you really care about prince and his memory or whatever you want people to believe you would be grateful that he experienced the unwavering love of another in his life. Your beating up on Mayte says more about your misguided loyalty than it does about her or anything she has done. She has appeared respectful at any events she has attended in his honor. She has not divulged any deep, dark secrets or bad-mouthed him. She has only told the truth and that's on you if you can't handle it. She has spoken gently of him him even the not so nice parts. It's clear that she loved him deeply and remained a faithful, supportive partner through it all just as she vowed the day they wed. HE gave up on them. HE quit. You should worry more about why he could so easily throw love away rather than be critical of her. I appreciate that she loved him, warts and all. She didn't give up on him. She never stopped trying to make a happy life with him until that was no longer an option. How can you find fault with such a person?

Beautifully expressed. I agree and know others do, too.

laurarichardson said:

Bodhitheblackdog said:

SweetKathleen said:

PennyPurple said:

Just pre-ordered the book from Barnes & Noble. $18.41 the signed copies were also $18.41 but were already sold out.

Yeah. I don't think I got a signed one either. Any idea if she's going to do a signing tour?

Darn! I missed out. Hopefully, there will be a signing tour.

SweetKathleen said:

PennyPurple said:

Just pre-ordered the book from Barnes & Noble. $18.41 the signed copies were also $18.41 but were already sold out.

Yeah. I don't think I got a signed one either. Any idea if she's going to do a signing tour?

I don't know, I hope she does have a signing tour.

sonshine said:

Something else for the haters to consider: If you really care about prince and his memory or whatever you want people to believe you would be grateful that he experienced the unwavering love of another in his life. Your beating up on Mayte says more about your misguided loyalty than it does about her or anything she has done. She has appeared respectful at any events she has attended in his honor. She has not divulged any deep, dark secrets or bad-mouthed him. She has only told the truth and that's on you if you can't handle it. She has spoken gently of him him even the not so nice parts. It's clear that she loved him deeply and remained a faithful, supportive partner through it all just as she vowed the day they wed. HE gave up on them. HE quit. You should worry more about why he could so easily throw love away rather than be critical of her. I appreciate that she loved him, warts and all. She didn't give up on him. She never stopped trying to make a happy life with him until that was no longer an option. How can you find fault with such a person?

Well said, I agree!

One could argue that she is painting herself as a martyr. The People article isn't that bad, but the daily mail excerpts do paint him as a svengeli and her as some innocent. Leaving out the fact that no one put a gun to her head or her parent's head. No one physically forced her to go without the amnio, no one forced her to keep working for a guy who would fine her for eating too much, no one forced her to go on Oprah (she could have said no...). She chose to hopefully because she loved him and not just because she didn't want to jump off the gravy train. Her age is not enough of an excuse. He didn't impregnate her at 16. I am not condemning her and I do get that she was innocent in many regards (but not all), but she had free will and if she didn't have it, her parents certainly did.

I am not saying that is her intent, but she doesn't seem to have any concern for how the media loves sound bites and stuff taken out of context.

Another thought, according to her, she was mourning in her bed and hugging the urn with her son's ashes. Prince couldn't take it, left, came back and then 'forced' her to go on Oprah by saying I need you to do this for me. Is it possible he thought he was doing her a favor, getting out her out of her stupor and eradicating rumors at the same time. He probably feed her the notion that Ahmir would 'come back' in another pregnancy and that their family remained. Maybe he thought he was being the man of the family, helping his family rebound by publically stating that they would perservere--in the hopes that it would come to fluition. They were mourning differently, it sounds like. He in denial(and using some spiritual belief in reincarnation). Her in deep acceptance. Maybe he was just as much of a child about this loss than she was--maybe more so..

sonshine said:

Something else for the haters to consider: If you really care about prince and his memory or whatever you want people to believe you would be grateful that he experienced the unwavering love of another in his life. Your beating up on Mayte says more about your misguided loyalty than it does about her or anything she has done. She has appeared respectful at any events she has attended in his honor. She has not divulged any deep, dark secrets or bad-mouthed him. She has only told the truth and that's on you if you can't handle it. She has spoken gently of him him even the not so nice parts. It's clear that she loved him deeply and remained a faithful, supportive partner through it all just as she vowed the day they wed. HE gave up on them. HE quit. You should worry more about why he could so easily throw love away rather than be critical of her. I appreciate that she loved him, warts and all. She didn't give up on him. She never stopped trying to make a happy life with him until that was no longer an option. How can you find fault with such a person?

[Edited 3/15/17 19:52pm]

If Wendy and Lisa or anybody from before 1990 wrote a book, nobody would care and i'm pretty sure they wouldn't be mad. That's an assumption just from being around here for a few years. But because it was somebody that was actually married to Prince, lived with him, created a child with him, and wasn't from the 80's it's an issue.

sonshine said:

Something else for the haters to consider: If you really care about prince and his memory or whatever you want people to believe you would be grateful that he experienced the unwavering love of another in his life. Your beating up on Mayte says more about your misguided loyalty than it does about her or anything she has done. She has appeared respectful at any events she has attended in his honor. She has not divulged any deep, dark secrets or bad-mouthed him. She has only told the truth and that's on you if you can't handle it. She has spoken gently of him him even the not so nice parts. It's clear that she loved him deeply and remained a faithful, supportive partner through it all just as she vowed the day they wed. HE gave up on them. HE quit. You should worry more about why he could so easily throw love away rather than be critical of her. I appreciate that she loved him, warts and all. She didn't give up on him. She never stopped trying to make a happy life with him until that was no longer an option. How can you find fault with such a person?

BINGO.

An emotional reaction that he have no clear explanation for except maybe pain. I don't care that Mayte sold his stuff..I get that -- its called closure. He did the same. So what.

Allowing her book to be cherry picked is a whole other thing.

sonshine said:

laurarichardson said:

He keep it classy.

If by classy you mean him burning her personal belongings in LG back yard then ok he kept it classy

laurarichardson said:

tab32792 said:

If Wendy and Lisa or anybody from before 1990 wrote a book, nobody would care and i'm pretty sure they wouldn't be mad. That's an assumption just from being around here for a few years. But because it was somebody that was actually married to Prince, lived with him, created a child with him, and wasn't from the 80's it's an issue.

Exactly.

Dez Dickerson's book is literally called My Time With Prince.

I don't see anyone wondering where the money goes from the books he's sold. And neither should they, because it's his story.

And this book is Mayte's story.

SweetKathleen said:

PennyPurple said:

Just pre-ordered the book from Barnes & Noble. $18.41 the signed copies were also $18.41 but were already sold out.

Yeah. I don't think I got a signed one either. Any idea if she's going to do a signing tour?

Barnes and Noble:

[Edited 3/15/17 19:52pm]

PurpleMedley122 said:

Identity said:

SweetKathleen said:

Yeah. I don't think I got a signed one either. Any idea if she's going to do a signing tour?

Barnes and Noble:

[Edited 3/15/17 19:52pm]

Wish I lived in NY.

He didn't bulldoze that house in Canada (that's illegal...it would have been her house. Plus, that house is literally on the market right now) he bulldozed his second house in Chanhausen..the one he shared with Mayte at one point and probably was were Ahmir's ashes were originally sent.)

Also he claimed Mani's stuff was in storage and available to her (except the music videos devoted to her which he destroyed). Don't know how that proceeded or if she ever received her other stuff, but he claimed that he didn't want the stuff but just didn't know where it was stored. NOt unreasonable considering how big Paisley is.

I do think however that he kept the videos from her on purpose.

PurpleMedley122 said:

laurarichardson said:

He keep it classy.

So classy that he bulldozed the house Mani received in their divorce settlement and refused to give her belongings in that leaked email correspondence when the divorce documents were released. So classy that he and Mani were caught fooling around in movie theaters while he was married to Mayte. Many, many examples... [Edited 3/15/17 19:49pm]

[Edited 3/15/17 20:05pm]

disch said:

i agree. Especially when it comes to talking about her and Prince's son. Mayte more or less adhered to Prince's wishes on the matter for 20 YEARS -- and his wishes on this (basically not acknowledging his son's existence publicly) were pretty strange and honestly appeared cruel. But now, if she wants to talk about her son publicly, including saying his name (which is something that many mothers who lost a child would want to do), I think that's well within her rights. And again, we're talking about a child who passed 2 decades ago, not last week.

nelcp777 said:

Well said.

Yes, THIS. Everyone seems to enjoy attacking Mayte on this, but I'm sorry, this is also her life, this was also HER child, and HER experience. The absolute cruelty here in accusing her of basically being a heartless gold digging bitch is just -- wow, it's a lot. That was a cruel thing Prince did to her, no matter what, and I for one am glad she's finally able to talk about it openly. She does not exist as a mere extension of Prince, and her entire life should not be ruled by whatever he wanted. Do I think she's a perfect person? Nope -- I also do not believe she owes him anything further, and especially not keeping silent to keep his memory 'perfect'. If what she says in this book tarnishes him somewhat? Meh, I think he's personally done quite a bit to tarnish himself quite on his own. The woman needs to be able to talk about this time in her life. If you don't like it, don't read it.

I know I personally will not think less of Prince as a musician, no matter what she says. What I think of him as a /person/ is quite a bit murkier, and it's more to do with him and his attitudes and behavior than what a single person might say about him. However, when you get multiple people basically pointing out the same few things? Yeeeah, I'm willing to accept that these were flaws, and the dude seriously did some cruel things to people, and having a hard background doesn't excuse them. I've had a hard background. That isn't an excuse to be a dick to others, or to expect them to buy and drink a specific brand of kool-aid forever. It's not a ticket out of at least making an attempt at treating other people like people and not my personal toys.

sonshine said:

Something else for the haters to consider: If you really care about prince and his memory or whatever you want people to believe you would be grateful that he experienced the unwavering love of another in his life. Your beating up on Mayte says more about your misguided loyalty than it does about her or anything she has done. She has appeared respectful at any events she has attended in his honor. She has not divulged any deep, dark secrets or bad-mouthed him. She has only told the truth and that's on you if you can't handle it. She has spoken gently of him him even the not so nice parts. It's clear that she loved him deeply and remained a faithful, supportive partner through it all just as she vowed the day they wed. HE gave up on them. HE quit. You should worry more about why he could so easily throw love away rather than be critical of her. I appreciate that she loved him, warts and all. She didn't give up on him. She never stopped trying to make a happy life with him until that was no longer an option. How can you find fault with such a person?

Thank you! I would think her years of unwavering love would mean a lot to a Prince fan. They sure do to me.

PurpleMedley122 said:

NOt one person on here has said he was a perfect person. But everything about Prince is so one-sided. No one ever asked why he makes the decisions he does. They just dismiss him as a prick. They may be wrong decisions that hurt others but since we don't know or even want to figure out why he did these things, we don't know if his intentions were actually cruel.

Am I the only one who thinks that people are much more confortable thinking of Prince as a seductive evil genius than as a vulnerable man who in his personal life was sometimes clueless about how to handle stuff and was enabled and used by others.

SpookyNopetopus said:

disch said:

i agree. Especially when it comes to talking about her and Prince's son. Mayte more or less adhered to Prince's wishes on the matter for 20 YEARS -- and his wishes on this (basically not acknowledging his son's existence publicly) were pretty strange and honestly appeared cruel. But now, if she wants to talk about her son publicly, including saying his name (which is something that many mothers who lost a child would want to do), I think that's well within her rights. And again, we're talking about a child who passed 2 decades ago, not last week.

Yes, THIS. Everyone seems to enjoy attacking Mayte on this, but I'm sorry, this is also her life, this was also HER child, and HER experience. The absolute cruelty here in accusing her of basically being a heartless gold digging bitch is just -- wow, it's a lot. That was a cruel thing Prince did to her, no matter what, and I for one am glad she's finally able to talk about it openly. She does not exist as a mere extension of Prince, and her entire life should not be ruled by whatever he wanted. Do I think she's a perfect person? Nope -- I also do not believe she owes him anything further, and especially not keeping silent to keep his memory 'perfect'. If what she says in this book tarnishes him somewhat? Meh, I think he's personally done quite a bit to tarnish himself quite on his own. The woman needs to be able to talk about this time in her life. If you don't like it, don't read it.

I know I personally will not think less of Prince as a musician, no matter what she says. What I think of him as a /person/ is quite a bit murkier, and it's more to do with him and his attitudes and behavior than what a single person might say about him. However, when you get multiple people basically pointing out the same few things? Yeeeah, I'm willing to accept that these were flaws, and the dude seriously did some cruel things to people, and having a hard background doesn't excuse them. I've had a hard background. That isn't an excuse to be a dick to others, or to expect them to buy and drink a specific brand of kool-aid forever. It's not a ticket out of at least making an attempt at treating other people like people and not my personal toys.

[Edited 3/15/17 20:19pm]