Prince's ex-wife Mayte Garcia to write memoir

The couple met backstage in 1990 and married six years later

Prince's former wife Mayte Garcia is to write an "intimate memoir" about her life with the musician.

The book, called The Most Beautiful, will chronicle the couple's relationship and marriage and the painful loss of their son in 1996.

Publisher Hachette said the book was due for release in April 2017, marking the first anniversary of the pop star's death. 

"Ours was a rare, almost otherworldly connection," Garcia said.

"I want to share our love story, and with it the highs and lows - always coming from a loving place, as this man is still part of my family and always will be."

The couple were introduced backstage at a Prince show in 1990, when Garcia was just 16. 

An accomplished dancer, she had caught Prince's attention after her mother sent a video of her belly dancing to the musician in the hope he might hire her.

They stayed in touch and two years later she joined his touring band. After falling in love, they married on Valentine's Day, 1996. White doves were released as they exchanged vows.

She became pregnant almost at once, but their son Boy Gregory died just a week after birth due to Pfeiffer syndrome, a rare defect of the skull.

That loss, followed by a miscarriage not long afterwards, tore the grieving couple apart and they divorced in 2000.

"Prince was loved the world over but few knew him intimately," Garcia said in a statement announcing the memoir. 

Its title refers to Prince's only UK number one, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, which she inspired.

Prince was also in the process of writing a memoir before his death. It is not known if the book was finished, or whether it will see the light of day.

The musician died on 21 April following an accidental overdose of the painkiller Fentanyl. He was 57. 

A tribute concert is planned in his home town of Minneapolis for next month. However, local paper The Star Tribune has reported that the event might be in trouble, with no contracts signed and only one act confirmed to play.

Source: BBC