Prince really must consider more sensible footwear for traipsing around the Twin Cities. Shouldn't aging hips, punished by years of high-heel dancing, require it?
About 2 p.m. last Sunday in St. Louis Park's Cub Foods parking lot, Marilyn Grill claims she saw Prince, interestingly coifed and wearing a striking cashmere coat.
"His hair was done up in little curls all over his head. I'd swear on stack of Bibles up to the ceiling," Grill said when asked whether she was positive it was Prince. "I was coming out of the Cub, was walking towards my car. I saw this guy, tiny, tiny, tiny, in this beautiful cashmere camel coat. That caught my eye because that was expensive. I think it might have been a three-quarters length coat, but it was almost full-length on him. There were two women standing there already, and people were trying to get close. He just put his hand out and shook hands with all of us."
Whoa. This is where I started to doubt Grill again. Although Prince is changing as he matures, he normally keeps his distance from strangers and fans; he doesn't shake hands. There must have had some Purell in his pocket.
Continuing.
"There was this real nice-looking man with him," Grill said. "Had a real nice suit on, and a big briefcase he was carrying. I didn't want to stand around and stare, but this one lady came and she was shaking like a leaf, with a pen and paper in hand. Are you Prince? she said, and he shook his head. He told the little lady that he did not give autographs. He put his hand out and she shook it. Two ladies asked what he was doing," Grill said and began laughing, "in the Cub parking lot. I thought he said something about giving tickets away."
Giving away? Prince needs to sell tickets to concerts to pay $500,000 in back taxes to Carver County and a $2.95 mil bill ordered by a judge because of a missed concert date in Ireland.
Grill said she got into a debate with a Cub employee who doubted it: "I said, 'If it wasn't him, he's got a twin.' He was dressed to the nines. He'd be a hard one to look like. Why would you be standing out there if you weren't Prince?"