A Walk in the Park, Book 2

Chapter 10 - The Press Conference

Thomas' POV

Reporters anxiously checked their recorders awaiting the press conference to start at the W Hotel in Minneapolis. As I stood with Prince and Isabella, I tried to coach them how this was going to go down, but as you can imagine, Prince feels a bit like a loose cannon. Isabella lends some balance to Prince's attitude of 'fuck it this was done in my backyard mentality.' Over the course of the past 48 hours, I can tell that Prince is more angry than professional about this, so my plan is to stand behind the two of them and insert myself if need be. I pray this goes as smoothly as possible.

Prince, still wearing sunglasses which I told him to remove, and Isabella walk hand-in-hand into the ballroom and you can tell by his body language that he is very protective of her. Prince, the consummate gentleman, pulled out Isa's chair and let her get seated and then he sat down next to her. Quickly he grasped her hand and placed it on the table in front of him, his other hand covered her hand almost as another layer of protection. Isabella whispered, "Baby why don't you take your sunglasses off, it makes you more approachable." I love how he'll listen to her more than me...that's love for ya.

Standing at the podium, I laid out the parameters for the conference. "Good morning everyone. Thank you for being here today, I'm sure that you are wondering the reason for today's conference and suffice it to say that this is serious in nature and we ask that you cover this with great sensitivity when addressing the topic as well as Prince, and especially his wife Isabella. I will provide you with a broad summary of the situation and then Prince and Isabella will take your questions. Please understand that the police are involved in this situation, and because of the sensitivity of the topic being covered, answers to certain questions may be declined."

I continued, "On Wednesday of last week, Prince and Isabella were spending time in their private backyard when a series of photographs were taken of them. The photographs are extremely sexual in nature. Thursday morning, the photographs were delivered via courier to Paisley Park where I received them. Upon opening the envelope and seeing the contents, I immediately met with Prince at his home where I broke the devastating news and shared with him the contents of the envelope. For obviously reasons, Prince, and eventually Isabella when she became aware, are very upset that their privacy was violated in such a personal way. The only communication within the envelope was a note that said, 'stay tuned.' At a later date, $100M was asked in exchange for the photographs and negatives. At this time, I would like to pass the speaking over to Prince so that he can communicate his thoughts on this matter."

Prince brought Isabella and his clasped hands to his lap, pulled her chair closer to him and began to speak into the microphone, "Can everyone hear me ok? Great. Thank you Thomas for the thorough and sensitive way that you summarized the very uncomfortable situation that Isabella and I as well as our children and extended family find ourselves in. We'd like to thank the Minneapolis Police Department for their professionalism, efforts and guidance in handling this matter. As Thomas mentioned, [shaking his head] sexual pictures of my wife and I were taken in our very private backyard and I wanted to meet with you to share my and our thoughts with you. First off, we will not be paying any money to the individuals who have so unscrupulously attacked my family in this fashion. Secondly, I and my family would like to appeal the press to not purchase these pictures or run them in your publications and let me explain why."

In all the years that I've worked for Prince, I've never seen him so composed yet sad about a situation. These two love each other so much and it's apparent by his body language that he can't wait for this conference to be over and simply be with Isabella.

Upon clearing his throat, Prince continued, "Isabella and I are two consenting adults who are madly in love [smiling at Isabella] and married. We chose to express that love in the privacy of our backyard last week. We were not in a public place being exhibitionists or some random parking lot, we were in our home where the press or other prying eyes should not be. As you know, I have been a very private person through the years, agreeing to do very limited interviews. Since meeting Isabella, it has been my decision to live an even further private life than I did before, so as to enjoy my wife and children. However, the press has benefitted by my further reclusiveness as I have been more forthcoming by releasing pictures from our wedding, pictures that I personally took of our twin girls at birth and then later today we will be releasing a family portrait taken at Bella and Mina's baptism this past Sunday. My number one concern is to keep our privacy intact and, especially for my wife and children."