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Prince: Private Memorial Service Held, Trust To Sell Off Properties

By Merry Strong
Published on: 13:14 PST, Aug 14, 2016

Last Friday, Prince’s family held a private memorial service in the pop icon’s honor. According to an interview with KARE 11, his cousin took a few minutes to share just how devastating Prince’s sudden death has been for the whole family. Charles Chazz Smith made this statement.

“I’ve been feeling him these past three months, every single day. I sometimes go, ‘He should be here and I shouldn’t be.’ I’m 60 years old. He’s 57. He should be here playing and grooving.”

An effort was made to make Prince’s memorial service as low key as possible. But, as you might guess, it wasn’t easy. Family members have been in the spotlight since April 21, the day he was found unresponsive in the elevator of his Paisley Park compound.

Prince’s family hopes that the unexpected death of their loved one will help to convince others struggling with drug addiction (painkillers or otherwise) to reach out for help. Almost up until the moment you take your last breath, it’s never too late. Charles Smith went on to say the following about not being afraid to ask for help.

“Being free enough to be able to say, I’m not doing well today. I’m in pain. Can you guys help me? Are you going to make fun of me if I tell you that I am in need, I’m hurting? That’s really a big lesson, that everybody needs to learn.”

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Prince’s longtime friend and band mate, Sheila E., recently told Larry King that she had no idea her friend was addicted to painkillers. She said that in all of the years she knew him, he never even took an aspirin or Tylenol.

Apparently, the subject of pain never came up in their conversations. Sheila just assumed he was in pain because of all the years he jumped around on stage in high-heeled shoes. In the same interview, she also spoke about her engagement to Prince and the reasons why they broke up.

Prince owned an undisclosed number of properties both in Minnesota and around the world. Rolling Stone recently told readers that the trust company that’s handling this singer’s estate just received permission to sell off six properties. The list does not include Prince’s Paisley Park compound.

The properties to be sold have a combined estimated value of $22 million. They include a mix of vacant lots, homes, and a commercial building. One particular piece of property is located in the Turks and Caicos islands. It is comprised of a 156-acre plot, situated on the shores of Lakes Ann and Lucy. In total, Bremer Trust hopes to sell 15 of Prince’s properties.

In a separate Inquisitr report, written approximately two months after Prince’s death, there was talk of turning Paisley Park into a museum or tourist attraction of some sort.

Two of Prince’s closest friends, Jeremiah Freed and Sheila E., stated that Prince was thinking about turning his beautiful compound into a museum for quite some time. He was actually in the process of gathering together all kinds of career-related memorabilia to put on display for his fans to see. Of course, this included his beloved motorcycle from the movie Purple Rain.

In addition to Friday’s private memorial service for Prince, his family also hosted a public tribute at Paisley Park. A second tribute will be held at U.S. Bank, sometime in October. More information will be announced at a later date.

Prince’s cousin had one last thing to say about lessons learned after the talented musician’s death. Chazz Smith said to “always keep something under your sleeve and to keep people wondering.” When all was said and done, Prince was most certainly an expert at that.

[Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images]

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