Mayte Garcia hoped the end of her marriage to Prince was just a "phase".
Mayte Garcia
The 43-year-old dancer tied the knot with the late singer in 1996 but they split two years later and she initially hoped their separation was the 'Diamonds and Pearls' star's reaction to the tragic death of their infant son in 1996 and her subsequent miscarriage.
She said: "Not that I thought my light was gonna go out, I just knew, that was the way he was and it's how people are in life, you have a time with someone and then you move on, it's definitely more common now.
"It wasn't something I thought, 'Oh it's time'.
"I always hoped it was something he was going through because of all the tragedy that happened in the family, I figured he was going through a phase, I'd seen him go through different phases musically and artistically that he'd come out of it, he had a good heart, I didn't feel it like that, I had hope."
Though Prince proposed to Mayte over the phone, she insisted he more than made up for the less-than-romantic proposal with a lavish treasure hunt.
Asked about the proposal, she recalled on UK TV show 'This Morning': "It was over the phone. He made up for it, soon after that by doing this whole paper trail of hearts and flower petals, it was very romantic."
Mayte was stunned to learn Prince had passed away from an accidental overdose aged 57 last April because although there has always been a part of her prepared for her loved ones to meet an untimely end, she expected her ex-husband to lead a long life.
She said: "I grew up in the military, my father was a pilot, so I always had this fear. I had something traumatic where his helicopter supposedly went down and it had an impact on me to appreciate people, and that life can end so quickly.
"I'd always have it in the back of my mind because Prince was older but I didn't think it would happen so soon, because his father lived to be in his 80s and was a little spitfire, so I always thought it would be the same with Prince. It's tragic."
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