Invercargill man claims he's Prince's secret son

A New Zealand man is the latest person to say he is pop icon Prince's heir after a judge dismissed a series of other claims, court documents showed Monday.

A lawyer for the administrator in charge of Prince's estate agreed to arrange genetic testing on Max Stacey McCormack, but made no secret of his doubts about the claim.

McCormack, from Invercargill on New Zealand's southern tip, submitted as evidence a photo of a person who had a "mild physical resemblance" to Prince but did not appear to be the Purple Rain star, said David Crosby, who represents Bremer Trust.

"We must admit that we are somewhat skeptical of your claim, given our understanding that (Prince) was completing high school in Minnesota in 1976, as opposed to living in New Zealand for several months," Crosby said in response to McCormack's account, made under oath.

In a letter filed with a Minnesota court, Crosby said it was nevertheless theoretically possible that McCormack's mother had sex with Prince. He gave the New Zealander and his mother until December 12 to arrange DNA tests.

Little is known about the new claimant. A 2007 article in the newspaper The Southland Times said McCormack, then 30, was in court for allegedly injuring a woman's eye with a machete. Prince died on April 21 from an accidental painkiller overdose and left no will, setting off a flurry of claims from people seeking to inherit his multimillion-dollar estate and vast song catalogue.

A judge last week dismissed a claim from Carlin Williams, an imprisoned rapper who said his mother had sex with Prince in a Kansas City hotel. Williams, who has rapped about killing his alleged father, failed a DNA test and the judge, Kevin Eide, formally excluded him as an heir after a dispute about his request for a new examination.

Others who have come forward to claim Prince's estate include a woman who said she had secretly married Prince in Las Vegas and a man in California who said the musician quietly promised him $1 billion. Prince left behind a sister and five half-siblings but no recognised child or spouse.

- AFP