Prince's Final Resting Place Will Be Kept Private

The 'Purple Rain' hitmaker - who died on Thursday morning (21.04.16) at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota - was remembered in a private memorial service on Saturday (23.04.16) with a "musical celebration" confirmed for a later date.

His publicist Yvette Noel-Schure said: "A few hours ago, Prince was celebrated by a small group of his most beloved family, friends and his musicians, in a private, beautiful ceremony to say a loving goodbye. Prince's remains have been cremated and their final storage will remain private.

"We ask for your blessings and prayers of comfort for his family and close friends at this time. The cause of death remains unknown and it will be at least four weeks before we receive the results of the autopsy. An announcement will be made at a future date for a musical celebration."

One guest who attended the memorial service - alongside the likes of Prince's former fiancé Sheila E., half-brother Maurice Phillips and bassist Larry Graham - says his closest friends and family did not make it a sad occasion but instead celebrated the life of the late singer.

A source said: "It was actually a party. People danced and ate."

At the memorial service, guests stayed inside for four hours following the cremation service and left with a casket containing Prince’s ashes.

Of his sister Tyka, an insider added to the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Tyka was adamant she didn’t wanted to leave him. Although in the past they often endured a fraught relationship in recent years and right now she has been like a rock throughout these dark days. As his only full blood relative alive Prince always looked out for Tyka and now she is doing all she can for him."

It has also been revealed Prince overdosed on the painkiller Percocet that he was taking for a chronic hip problem six days before his death.

Prince had to be given a "save shot" almost a week before his passing after he became reliant on the highly-addictive drug, which contains acetaminophen and oxycodone, to treat the acute pain he was battling in his joints for years, TMZ reports.

Prince - who had used a cane to help him get around for many years - had long needed a double hip replacement but reportedly turned it down on numerous occasions because he was worried it would require a blood transfusion, which would have conflicted with his beliefs as a Jehovah Witness.

The 57-year-old singer was rushed to hospital in Moline, Illinois on April 15 for the shot, which is administered to counteract the effects of opiates, after being taken ill on his private jet on the way back from a gig in Atlanta. 

A post-mortem was carried out on Prince's body and it confirmed there had been no trauma or violence in the time leading up to the singer's death.

And, although it could be weeks before his cause of death is revealed, the Examiner's Officer has stated there is "no reason to believe" that Prince had committed suicide.