What Happened to Prince’s Doves Divinity and Majesty After He Died?
After his music, Prince’s second love was his doves. Prince was always too busy to settle down and start a family. However, when he was at his Paisley Park compound, he had his two doves, a white male called Majesty and a black female named Divinity, to keep him company.
Doves were always in Prince’s life, ever since he wrote “When Doves Cry” for his biggest album, Purple Rain. Later, Divinity and Majesty made an appearance on Prince’s 2002 album One Nite Alone... They’re sort of his mascot at this point. But what happened to the Purple One’s peaceful birds after he died in 2016?
Prince bought Divinity and Majesty around 1992
Doves first appeared in Prince’s song “When Doves Cry.” Two doves escaped a bathroom in the music video. In the song, Prince seems to say that doves cry when two lovers quarrel.
However, according to Bright Hub Education (per Bustle), mourning doves don’t just represent sadness. When a dove sings its mourning call, it means it’s sending the message of “life, hope, renewal and peace.”
In the video for “Seven,” on 1992’s Love Symbol, Mayte Garcia, Prince’s first wife, kisses Majesty on the head. We don’t know if Prince bought both Divinity and Majesty simultaneously, but they both have a credit on Prince’s 2002 album One Nite Alone…
The bird’s contribution came on the album’s “Arboretum,” a solo piano piece that the musician recorded in Paisley Park’s Atrium, where the doves lived in a giant cage. Divinity and Majesty’s credit read, “ambient singing: the doves’ DIVINITY AND MAJESTY.”
Majesty died in 2017 and Divinity died in 2021
Doves have been living at Paisley Park for the past 30 years. However, after Prince died in 2016, Majesty died in 2017. Divinity followed in 2021. Paisley Park announced Divinity’s death and said the black female dove had died peacefully after years of declining health. Divinity was an astounding 28 years old, which means that the Purple One more than likely purchased Majesty and Divinity in the 1990s.
“She was one of the enduring links to Prince for thousands of fans. She will be missed,” said Alan Seiffert, the executive director of Prince’s estate. At the time, plans were being made to secure two new doves.
Majesty and Divinity mourned Prince’s death
After Prince suddenly died in 2016, his doves were just as shocked as the fans. They noticed immediately. Prince’s sister, Tyka Nelsen, told Today (via Vanity Fair) that Majesty and Divinity fell silent after the artist died. They didn’t even sing their mourning song, which would have made sense since it represents optimism during a tragedy.
When Al Roker asked her if she still felt her brother’s presence at Paisley Park, Nelson said, “Oh, definitely. Anytime you look at his clothes or his shoes or you hear a song because sometimes they’ll play music in here. And then, of course, the doves…
“After he passed, they weren’t talking. It didn’t feel the same… So when I first came in [to Paisley Park after Prince’s death], I was like, ‘Where’s the doves? What’s going on?’ [His staff] said, ‘They’re up there. They’re just not talking.’ I said, ‘Well you need to play some Prince music.'”
That ended up working and the doves started talking again, but unfortunately not for very much longer. Divinity and Majesty just couldn’t live without Prince. Neither can we, really.
