As if the maelstrom surrounding Prince's death and estate weren't crazy enough, new reports suggest that Prince's alleged love child might prove to be much more credible than previously thought.
In situations such as these, when a celebrity or any wealthy person passes away, it's seen as par for the course that "love children" come out of the woodwork to claim their inheritance. After all, it was only a few days after Prince passed away that the public learned that he did not have a will, meaning that whomever proved to be next-of-kin would be entitled to his entire fortune.
However, the script was flipped when court documents revealed that the special administrator of Prince's estate, Bremer Trust bank, asked for authorization to analyze a sample of Prince's blood in order to determine the parentage of the man claiming to be Prince's love child.
BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images
The judge overseeing the case has ruled that the DNA Diagnostics Center can perform the test, determining it to be a "reasonable and necessary action." The judge goes on to state that it is in the bank's authority to pursue any credible claims of parentage.
What many first saw as a joke, or perhaps a distant possibility, is now becoming all the more real – especially to Prince's seven half and step siblings – who stand to lose everything if the love child is found to be legitimate.
The person who is staking these paternity claims has now been identified as a 39-year-old man named Carlin Q. Williams. Williams alleges that his mother, Marsha Henson, had an encounter with Prince, then an unknown musician in his late teens, in a Kansas City hotel in 1976.
And, as it turns out, Prince's alleged son is currently incarcerated in a Colorado federal prison; serving a 92-month sentence for possession of a firearm by a felon. He will not be released until 2020.
In yet another colorful twist, Williams is a rapper who calls himself Prince Dracula. On his music profile page, he writes in his description that he is "Prince the Singer's son."
Perhaps the reason Williams is confident enough to publicly declare that he is Prince's son, is that his mother stated in an affidavit that she is certain Prince is the father of Williams. According to Henson, she didn't have sexual relations with anyone six weeks prior to their meeting, and she slept with no one until after Williams was born, apparently assuring that Prince is the father.
However likely or unlikely the story presented by Henson and Williams may be, their claims are being taken seriously by those involved with the distribution of his estate. However, until the DNA results are in, the public can only speculate, and Prince's siblings remain left in a lurch.
