Prince had Aids, friends say

MUSIC star Prince reportedly had been diagnosed with full-blown Aids six months before he died.

Prince, 57, died at his Paisley Park estate in Minneapolis last week.

It has been alleged that he contracted HIV in the 1990s before developing full-blown Aids last year after refusing medication for the illness on religious grounds.

Friends of the star, who was a Jehovah’s Witness, said: “He was in bad shape. Doctors told Prince his blood count was unusually low.

“He was totally iron deficient, very weak, often disoriented and rarely ate,” they said.

Prince is said to have told them: “God can – and will – cure me.”

After his initial HIV diagnosis, Prince was allegedly discouraged from taking medication by members of his faith.

“They told Prince he’d have everlasting life and believed he had been cured by faith,” a source said.

The star’s body has now been released to his family.