Mayte Jannell García (/ˈmaɪteɪ/; born November 12, 1973) is an American belly dancer, actress, singer, and choreographer, best known as the former wife of pop star Prince. She is of Puerto Rican ancestry. Garcia was born on a military base in Alabama; during her childhood, her parents relocated throughout the United States and Germany as a result of her father's military reassignments.

Biography

Prince resides near Minneapolis, Minnesota. Over the years Prince has been romantically linked with many celebrities, including Kim Basinger, Madonna, Vanity, Sheila E., Carmen Electra, Susanna Hoffs, Anna Fantastic, Sherilyn Fenn, and Susan Moonsie of Vanity 6 and Apollonia 6. Prince was engaged to Susannah Melvoin in 1985. He married his backup singer and dancer Mayte Garcia on Valentine's Day 1996. They had a son, Boy Gregory (born October 16, 1996), who was born with Pfeiffer syndrome and died a week after birth. Prince and Mayte divorced in 1999. In 2001, Prince married Manuela Testolini in a private ceremony. Testolini filed for divorce in May 2006. He also had a short-term relationship with protégée Bria Valente in 2007.

Prince became one of Jehovah's Witnesses in 2001 following a two-year-long debate with friend and fellow Jehovah's Witness musician Larry Graham. Prince said that he didn't consider it a conversion, but a "realization". "It's like Morpheus and Neo in The Matrix," he explained. He attends meetings at a local Kingdom Hall and occasionally knocks on people's doors to discuss his faith. Prince has reportedly needed double hip-replacement surgery since 2005 but won't undergo the operation unless it is a bloodless surgery because Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions. The condition is rumored to be aggravated by repeated onstage dancing in high-heeled boots. However, when Prince was interviewed in 2010, journalist Peter Willis said that he believed the rumors of Prince needing double hip surgery to be unfounded and untrue, as Prince appeared to be agile.

Prince is a vegan. The liner notes for his album Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic featured a message about the cruelty involved in wool production.

Since 2008, Prince has been managed by UK-based Kiran Sharma.

Sinead O'Connor spoke about her relationship with Prince in an interview with Norwegian station NRK in November 2014. She said that Prince had summoned her to his house after "Nothing Compares 2 U", a song that Prince wrote which became a worldwide hit for O'Connor in 1990. O'Connor said, "I made it without him. I'd never met him. He summoned me to his house—and it's foolish to do this to an Irish woman—he said he didn't like me saying bad words in interviews. So I told him to fuck off." O'Connor alleged that the row became physical. "He got quite violent. I had to escape out of his house at 5 in the morning. He packed a bigger punch than mine.

Best films