Prince was suffering from AIDS before being found dead last week
and had refused treatment because he believed he could be cured by
prayer, it has been claimed.
The Purple Rain singer, who was a Jehovah's Witness, was diagnosed
with the crippling condition just six months before he passed away,
sources told the National Enquirer.
The 57-year-old weighed just 80lbs by the time of his death and had
been 'preparing to die for a little while', the supermarket tabloid
says sources told it.
A source, who was not identified by the Enquirer, said: 'Doctors
told Prince his blood count was unusually low and that his body
temperature had dropped dangerously below the normal 98.6 degrees to 94
degrees.
'He was totally iron-deficient, very weak and often disoriented. He rarely ate and when he did, it all came right back up.
'His face was yellowish, the skin on his neck was hanging off and the tips of fingers were a brownish-yellow.'
This comes as sources close to the investigation into the singer's
death claimed that he had prescription painkillers in his possession
when he died.
CNN reported that the pain-killing substance was found on Prince
while the Star Tribune in Minneapolis reported that prescription pills
were found where the musician died at the age of 57 last week at his
home in suburban Minneapolis.
Both reports were based on unidentified law enforcement sources.
According to the National Enquirer Prince was diagnosed with HIV
back in the 1990s, but that developed into AIDS toward the end of last
year.
The Enquirer goes on to claim that the singer became addicted to
opiate medication Percoet that he was using to dull the pain he was
suffering in his last months of life.
A statement by those close to Prince following his death said he
died of influenza, an infection that would likely have proved fatal if
his immune system had been decimated by AIDS.
Days before he was found dead in a lift at his Paisley Park mansion
in Chanhassen, Minneapolis, he had been seen making runs to a local
pharmacy to pick up bags of prescriptions.
An employee at the Walgreens that served him said: 'We were all just shocked that he came in last night looking so beat. We said: "We are praying for you."'
'He said, almost under his breath: "Maybe if you prayed for me a
year ago it’d be different right now." Then he waved and said thanks
anyway.'
Rumors have surrounded the cause of Prince's death, who was known
as much for his sexually androgynous stage persona and wild sex life as
his music.
It has been rumored that Prince died from an overdose of Percocet,
and had nearly passed away on board his private plane while touring six
days before he was found unresponsive at home.
The jet was required to make an unscheduled landing despite being
just 45 minutes from the artist's home, though his representatives again
said he was suffering from flu.
However sources told TMZ that Prince actually had to be rushed to
hospital for a 'save shot', typically used on patients who have taken an
overdose of opiate medication.
While the autopsy report into Prince's death may not been released
for several weeks, officers have already said there was no indication of
suicide.
Lawyer L. Londell McMillan, who knew Prince for 25 years and at one
time was his manager, has denied the singer had an addiction.
McMillan said Prince's death had come as a shock to all who knew him because he lived a 'clean and healthy lifestyle.'
Meanwhile the singer's estate is still in limbo after it was revealed he refused to sign a will.
The exact value of the estate is unknown, and it has been suggested
that Prince was running out of money because he refused to sell the
licences to his music, forcing him to begin touring again.
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