prince

Prince overdosed on a powerful painkiller that federal health authorities say is a public health threat. One addiction specialist calls it “heroin on steroids.”

The pop star died of a self-administered accidental overdose of fentanyl, according to the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office in Minnesota. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is between 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

How Prince obtained the prescription painkiller is not known. His April 21 death at age 57 in his Minneapolis-area compound remains under investigation by the Carver County Sheriff’s Office, which had no comment Thursday.

Fentanyl was first introduced under the name Sublimaze in the 1960s, and was initially administered via an intravenous anesthetic. Nowadays, patients can get a fentanyl dosage via tablets, patches, and injections — or even lozenges referred to as “lollipops.”

The drug is often prescribed for patients dealing with chronic pain from late-stage cancer, and is also used as an anesthetic during heart surgery.

“Think of fentanyl as legal heroin on steroids,” said Dr. Cali Estes, a private addiction coach. “The way most people describe [the high is like] lying in a bed of roses, having sex and eating a cheeseburger at the same time.”

Doctors have to undergo special training required by the Food and Drug Administration in order to prescribe it, said Dr. Matt Torrington, addiction medicine research physician who has worked at the UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs. “One reason it’s so good is that it’s incredibly powerful in small doses,” he said.

In media interviews, close associates of Prince have said the performer was constantly in pain from years of athletic performances on stage. Just before he died, efforts had been initiated to get him into an addiction rehabilitation program.

Prince’s cause of death arguably makes him the opioid abuse epidemic’s most famous victim, along with actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died in February 2014 after overdosing on heroin and other drugs.

“We need to see the Prince in all of us. We need to see the vulnerability. We’re all vulnerable here,” explained Dr. David Kessler, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. “It’s a wake-up call for how we view these drugs.”

Because of its heroin-like effect, fentanyl has recently become one of the most popular illicit street drugs. In a March 2015 nationwide alert, the Drug Enforcement Administration identified fentanyl as a public health threat after more than 700 fentanyl-related overdose deaths were reported between late 2013 and throughout 2014.

In 2014 alone, the National Forensic Laboratory Information System found there were 1,245 fentanyl drug seizures in Ohio alone; Minnesota was not among the top 10 states with the most seizures.

“It’s become especially popular in the last six months,” Estes said. “On the black market, fentanyl is cheaper than heroin.”

Kessler said it’s a mistake to separate people using opioids legally from those who are getting them illegally. People start, he said, because they are told the drugs are going to help, but often aren’t advised about the long-term consequences of addiction.

“The most important thing is not to look at this through a lens of ‘This is bad behavior,’” Kessler said. “We all are susceptible to these medications.”

Questions remain as to how Prince got his drugs. According to an affidavit for a search warrant obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Prince saw a Minneapolis-area doctor, Michael Todd Schulenberg, the day before he died, and Schulenberg was at Prince’s Paisley Park compound to deliver medical test results on the morning the musician was found dead.

The doctor, who specializes in family medicine, had also seen Prince earlier in the month, on April 7, and told investigators he had prescribed medication. The singer was supposed to fill the prescription at Walgreens, although it is unclear from the warrant whether he did.

Prince’s health appeared to be a concern in the days leading up to this death. Attorney William Mauzy told reporters that his client Dr. Howard Kornfeld was contacted by Prince’s representatives, who were seeking help, the day before the singer died. Kornfeld specializes in addiction treatment and runs Recovery Without Walls in Mill Valley, Calif.

Mauzy said that Kornfeld couldn’t clear his schedule and instead had sent his son Andrew Kornfeld to Paisley Park in his place with a small amount of buprenorphine, a drug used in opioid addiction treatment. Andrew Kornfeld had flown to Minneapolis in hopes of encouraging Prince to check himself into the Mill Valley rehabilitation program and that the buprenorphine he was carrying was intended to be turned over to a Minneapolis physician to be administered to the pop star. According to Mauzy, the medication was not administered and was later taken into possession by sheriff’s investigators.

Dr. Kornfeld and his son declined to be interviewed.

According to authorities, Prince was last seen alive at 8 p.m. April 20, when someone dropped him off at Paisley Park. The musician was apparently left alone that night, without staff members or security.

Prince, a devout Jehovah’s Witness, was “a very private person,” said Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson. “I don’t think it would be unusual, for him to be there by himself.”

Days before Prince was found unconscious at Paisley Park Studio, he’d given his final performances in Atlanta. Despite not feeling well and reportedly fighting the flu, the performer told the concert promoter that he “would give it his all.”

“I knew after the show that he was fatigued because normally he does an after-party and he didn’t,” said Lucy Freas, who heads up Atlanta’s Rival Entertainment, which had presented Prince’s April 14 shows. “He wanted to go straight home, so he left the same night.”

The performer left the venue after those back-to-back gigs just before midnight and headed home to Minnesota, but his private plane took a detour along the way for an unscheduled landing in Moline, Ill., just after 1 a.m. Prince was unresponsive, according to an airport official.

Firefighters and paramedics spent 18 minutes attending to the singer on the tarmac, before whisking him to a hospital. “An unresponsive person is typically someone unconscious and not responding to efforts to revive them,” explained Jeff Patterson, public safety director at the Quad Cities Airport.

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Prince performs at the Forum in Inglewood on Feb. 18, 1985.   (Liu Heung Shing / Associated Press )

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People get emotional while talking about Prince at a memorial for the artist in Leimert Park.

  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

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A rainbow appears over Paisley Park near a memorial for Prince in Chanhassen, Minn. Prince, widely acclaimed as one of the most inventive and influential musicians of his era with hits including “Little Red Corvette,” ’’Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry,” was found dead at his home at Paisley Park on Thursday.

  (Carlos Gonzalez / Star Tribune via AP)

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Prince performs at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minn. on Dec. 25, 1984.

  (David Brewster / AP)

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Prince performs on stage on the Hit N Run-Parade Tour at Wembley Arena in London in August 1986.

  (Michael Putland / Getty Images)

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Prince performs at the Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary, on Aug. 9, 2011.

  (Balazs Mohai / EPA)

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Prince at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp, Belgium, on Nov. 8, 2010.

  (Dirk Waem / EPA)

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Prince presents an award at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles on Nov. 22, 2015.

  (Matt Sayles / Invision / Associated Press)

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Prince performs at Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in 2008.

  (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)

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A shirtless Prince performs in 1986.

  (Mario Suriani / Associated Press)

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Prince and Manuela Testolini arrive at the 2005 Academy Awards.

  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Prince and Manuela Testolini arrive at the 2005 Annual Academy Awards.

  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Prince performs at the Super Bowl in 2007.

  (Evan Agostini / Getty Images)

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Prince in 2008.

  (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)

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Prince performs “Purple Rain” at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards in 2004.

  (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times)

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Prince performs at the Super Bowl in 2007.

  (Chris O’Meara / Associated Press)

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Prince with Beyonce at the 2004 Grammy Awards.

  (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times)

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Prince performs on ABC’s “Good Morning America” in 2006.

  (Peter Kramer / Getty Images)

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The crowd at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood before a Prince concert in 2007.

  (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

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Prince performs in France in 2011.  (Bertrand Guay / AFP/Getty Images)

Prince was hospitalized for a few hours before departing in the early morning of April 15 for his home in Minnesota. Six days later, he would be found dead.

Prince’s family is planning a memorial service in August — and is also sorting out his estate. So far, no will has surfaced for Prince. Under Minnesota law, his siblings — including his sister, Tyka Nelson, and several half-siblings — stand to inherit the entertainer’s assets. Prince’s two marriages ended in divorce, and his son, Boy Gregory, died in infancy in 1996.

A Minnesota judge appointed corporate trust company Bremer Trust to oversee his multimillion-dollar estate. Among the assets at stake is a catalog of music that would likely include a royalty stream for some of pop music’s most recognizable tunes, such as “Purple Rain,” “When Doves Cry” and “Kiss.”

The trailblazing performer sold more than 100 million records over his career, fusing rock, pop, funk and R&B and demonstrating an audacious, idiosyncratic sense of style and willingness to court controversy.

A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, he won seven Grammy Awards and an Academy Award for original song score for the 1984 film “Purple Rain.” He also wrote hit songs for other artists, including Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” and The Bangles’ “Manic Monday.”

“We appreciate the public’s patience and have been comforted by your outpouring of love, support and condolences,” Prince’s family said in a statement regarding a planned public event. “We look forward to sharing with the world this celebration of, and farewell to, our Prince.”

Times staff writers Amy Kaufman, Christie D’Zurilla, Matt Pearce, Richard Winton and Peter King contributed to this report.

MORE ON PRINCE:

From the Archives: Prince: ‘If I knew the things I know now before, I wouldn’t be in the music industry’

When Prince bended gender, he gave black men permission to be free

Appreciation: From beginning to end, Prince was always surprising us

UPDATES:

3:01 p.m.: This article was updated throughout.

1:53 p.m.: This article was updated throughout.

11:42 a.m.: This article was updated with an official cause of death.

11:15 a.m.: This article was updated with information on Prince’s autopsy and law enforcement comment.

10:25 a.m.: This article was updated with more information regarding claims of Prince’s drug use.

9:48 a.m.: This article was updated with Los Angeles Times staff reporting.

This article was originally published at 9:10 a.m.

Paris Jackson, daughter of late pop icon Michael Jackson, seeks more than half a million dollars in a preliminary transfer from her father’s estate to a trust for his three children. Jackson alleged in a recent court filing that the funds are overdue and under the “iron grip” of the estate’s executor.

The actor-singer on Thursday accused the executors of her father’s estate of failing to fulfill the singer’s wishes for Prince, Paris and Bigi to begin receiving income from their family trust.

“Michael Jackson’s family trust remains unfunded,” she said in the petition, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court and reviewed by The Times.

According to Paris, executors said in 2011 they would file a petition to begin funding the trust. Allegedly, no such petition has been filed: “Fifteen years later, Michael’s beneficiaries are still waiting.”

Attorneys for the estate’s executors did not immediately respond on Tuesday to The Times’ request for comment.

Jackson said her father, who died in June 2009, wanted his children to begin receiving money from the estate on each of their 21st birthdays and that each child would also receive “outright principal distributions” from the trust when they each turned 30. Prince and Paris (born to the singer and former wife Debbie Rowe) are 29 and 28, respectively. Bigi is 24 and was born via surrogate.

“They instead receive lesser amounts dictated by the remaining Executor, who uses this power to deter them from checking his abuses,” Paris’ petition alleges.

The executors for Michael Jackson’s estate began generating liquidity in 2011, including the sale of the singer’s Neverland Ranch in 2020 and the $750-million deal with Sony for intellectual property assets. “Executors have claimed the overall value of the Estate is now between $2 billion and $3 billion,” Paris said in her filing.

“Executor continues to keep each beneficiary beholden to him with an iron grip over when and if monies are distributed to them,” the petition added.

The “sirens” and “evermore” singer also accused the executors of meeting her previous legal challenges with “scorched earth litigation, public attacks, and a multimillion reduction” in money to herself and her siblings.

Paris also noted in her petition that the estate was subject to litigation by the Internal Revenue Service and said that litigation “also appears to be at or nearing its end,” potentially freeing up funds to be transferred to the family trust. The estate said in a statement that it cannot “fully” fund the trust until “several legal matters are resolved” including that case with the IRS, People reported.

“The Estate was able to secure a ruling to significantly reduce that amount, but the matter has not been settled and could still change,” the estate added in its statement to People. It also denied allegations of holding back or reducing payments to the three children.

Jackson asks the court to order the executor of her father’s estate to make a preliminary transfer of $600 million, or another amount it deemed fit, to the Michael Jackson Family Trust. The next hearing for this case is scheduled for Wednesday.

Prince WIlliam once dreamed about being a policeman before he turned his hand to DJing – but The Prince of Wales has been brutally honest about his talents during a surprise TV interview

Prince WIlliam has revealed his childhood dreams of becoming a DJ live on TV.

He joined Cate Blanchett, Robert Irwin and Hannah Waddingham on The Graham Norton Show last night. During the episode William was asked whether he had wanted a different career growing up, other than becoming the future King, to which he surprised the audience by saying he had.

His dream role was once to be a policeman, and he even said he wanted to be a DJ. He said: “I did want to be a policeman when I was younger; I thought I could make a good policeman.” Graham interjected saying: “Well, you’re tall.” Then Robert chipped in: “There’s a bit more to it than that mate.”

Graham continued: “Well, you’d look good in the uniform and the hat.” Prince WIlliam added: “I wasn’t on the catwalk. Yeah, being a policeman I thought was quite cool and then I went through a phase of wanting to be a DJ – which didn’t go very well and I came up with a name, I was called DJ Xara with an ‘X’, it wasn’t good.”

Graham asked: “Did you DJ at school parties?” To which Prince William said: “No, I didn’t, I never got that good.”

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The audience is heard laughing along, prompting many royal fans to take to X to comment on the prince’s sense of humour, with many referring to William as “funny”.

One fan commented: “Prince William is articulate, funny and an intelligent decent man,” another added: “Prince William is pretty funny and bet he would look good in a police uniform.”

Another added: “I [red-heart emoji] seeing people realise just how charismatic and funny Prince William is, and that he has absolutely no problem laughing at himself. This clip of him on The Graham Norton Show is the perfect example of that. The poor man was absolutely red in the face from laughing so much.”

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Prince William revealed he met with Ross Kemp recently and confirmed “he was really jumpy” as he opened up on his family’s love for The Celebroity Traitors on The Graham Norton Show

The Prince of Wales has revealed his family’s love of The Celebrity Traitors, adding that he even touched paranoid faithful Ross Kemp “to see what reaction I got from him”.

The EastEnders star had been on alert about being murdered in plain sight through touch since the first episode of the BBC One series. The paranoia proved justified in Thursday’s episode, when he was indeed murdered in plain sight by traitors James Acaster and Maya Jama.

But instead of touch, he was murdered by yawning and inhaling a poisoned perfume. Discussing the star-studded programme during a surprise appearance on an Earthshot Prize edition of The Graham Norton Show, William said: “I love it, the family love it. Charlotte and Louis are obsessed with it. It’s really good telly.

“I saw Ross Kemp the day after the first episode and I couldn’t help but try – in the most appropriate way – to touch him to see what reaction I got from him. Turns out he was really jumpy!”

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Asked how he switches off, he said: “It is music and film. I love getting immersed in deep-thinking films. I like action films too, but I like something a bit different. I’m a big fan of everything Christopher Nolan does. His films are fantastic – The Dark Knight series is psychologically dark and deep and I absolutely love that.

“He takes concepts that are completely out there and makes them incredibly entertaining.”

William joined Cate Blanchett, Robert Irwin and Hannah Waddingham on the chat show to gasps from the audience to speak about the environmental award, which connects all four guests.

Blanchett is an Earthshot Prize council member, Irwin is a global ambassador for the prize and Waddingham hosted the 2023 Earthshot awards in Singapore.

Mumbai will stage the Earthshot Prize next month where the future king will meet Bollywood stars as he learns about India’s hugely popular film industry, play with cricketing royalty and preside over the ceremony awarding £5 million in prize money.

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The Prince of Wales made a surprise appearance on the Graham Norton Show tonight and opened up about the hilarious moment he was mistaken for singer Prince

Prince WIlliam has recounted the time he was once mistaken for the singer Prince at a UK event.

Tonight The Prince of Wales made a surprise appearance on the Graham Norton Show as part of a special edition to mark the Earthshot Prize. During the episode he sat on the sofa with Cate Blanchett, Robert Irwin and Hannah Waddingham, all of whom are involved with the prize.

The prince was a surprise for the audience, as Norton first spoke with Cate, Robert and Hannah. He then suddenly mentioned involving the prince in the chat, with William then making his surprise appearance. Before William emphasised the urgent need to tackle climate change he opened up about an encounter with a member of the public which had the audience howling with laughter.

Graham said: “Recently you were at an event and someone didn’t know who you were?” To which WIlliam responded: “Yes, that happens quite regularly actually. I went to a place in Somerset and was looking around some of the local communities there and one lovely gentleman looked up at me from his seat and said ‘when are you going to sing?’ and I looked at him, I’ve had many requests over many years for all ranging parts of society and I said ‘I’m sorry what do you mean?’ he goes ‘when are you going to sing your performance?’

“And a lady behind tapped his arm and went “no, no he’s not that prince.” it turned out he wanted me to sing purple rain – which I don’t know the lyrics for.”

It comes as next month, Mumbai will stage the Earthshot Prize where the future king will meet Bollywood stars as he learns about India’s hugely popular film industry, play with cricketing royalty and preside over the ceremony awarding £5million in prize money to those with ideas to repair the planet.

Prince William went on to speak about the origins of the Earthshot Prize, and its role in identifying and supporting innovators around the world. He said: “For many years I was hearing stories about environment issues and one thing that struck me was the negativity and doom which got me down.

“I thought we could do something more powerful and more optimistic and the idea of an awards’ ceremony came about and we could talk about urgency and optimism together. It’s all about getting excited.”

Blanchett, an Earthshot Prize council member, described the Prize as a “tapestry of solutions”, while Irwin, a global ambassador for the prize, spoke about the role the prize has played in building a new generation of environmental advocates.

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William’s Earthshot Prize project is halfway through its decades-long cycle to recognise and reward issues and ideas to help save the planet and the event has already been staged in London, Singapore, Cape Town, Boston and Rio de Janeiro.

Since its launch in 2021, he has managed to attract a host of stars to his cause, from Hollywood names Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey and Cate Blanchett to broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough and former prime minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern.

The initiative was inspired by former US president John F Kennedy’s Moonshot project which set scientists the challenge of placing an astronaut on the moon and returning him safely – and in the process helped advance mankind’s achievements.

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Prince Harry is opening up about his and wife Meghan Markle’s unexpected decision earlier this year to move back to the United Kingdom years after their dramatic fallout with the British royal family.

The Duke of Sussex spoke about the move in an interview with GQ’s Zach Baron, explaining that he and the duchess of Sussex returned to Britain for “opportunities for the family.” Prince Harry — promoting his session on grief with neuroscientist Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor for the MasterClass online platform — said the ability to put his and Meghan’s two children “in a British school has meant a lot to me” as was being “back closer to my family.”

“To be back on U.K. soil for longer than a few days or a week here or there,” he continued, “it’s nice to be back.”

Reports of Harry and Meghan’s return to the United Kingdom surfaced in August after the spouses made clear in 2020 that their departure was due to several factors, including severe scrutiny by the British media and alleged racism and bullying by the royal family. During the GQ interview, published Tuesday, Harry said he felt more confident and “optimistic” about returning to the U.K. and its tabloid scene, saying, “I can respect them if they respect me and our position.”

After Harry and Meghan separated themselves from the British family, they settled in California in the affluent neighborhood of Montecito. While in the United States, the pair took on a variety of media ventures — including a podcast, a television series and documentaries — under their multimedia company Archewell Productions. Memorably, Harry also penned his memoir, “Spare,” in 2023, providing readers a look at his family and his scathing view of the paparazzi. Subject to media scrutiny for nearly the entirety of his life, Harry told GQ, “I prefer me to be putting things out there rather than the machine creating stuff.”

“Why not try to be in control of your own story?” he added. “Because if they can’t be responsible enough to tell your story, then you have to tell your own story.”

Prince Harry also said in the interview he felt the stars aligned for his and Meghan’s return and that their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, had been “loving” their time attending British school. “It’s just giving them a whole different experience.”

As for his other family members, brother Prince William and father King Charles III, Prince Harry said, “I want it to work out.”

“Of course I do. Again, with everything else that’s going on in the world, the most important thing is to reconcile,” he said. “That’s the key point.”