Prince’s ex-girlfriend claims singer had secret ‘cocaine diet’ staying awake for ‘days at a time’

AN ex-girlfriend of singer Prince after his death claiming he had a secret cocaine addiction.

Charlene Friend, 44, says she believes the musician hid his drug use from family and friends, and would sometimes go days at a time without sleep.

And when she asked him how he did the singer allegedly responded: “Angel food. Food of the spirit, not of the flesh.”

While never seeing him take anything in front of her Friend told she suspected he was using narcotics.

Prince died on April 21 – his death shocked the world, and it was revealed later he died from an overdose of the drug fentanyl, which is the same opioid which killed Michael Jackson.

Friend told the publication: “He would sometimes stay up for five days at a time without sleep, food or even water, going nonstop back and forth to the studio.

“I had to sneak in catnaps to keep from passing out from exhaustion. The first time that happened, I asked him, ‘How do you do this?'”

She claims the singer just smiled, stared into her eyes and said: “Angel food. Food of the spirit, not of the flesh.”

Friend went on to allege when he did sleep, Prince would cover the windows with aluminum foil so the room was pitch black.

He would also turn the heat right up so it was 80 degrees or more. She added he would shake through the night.

However Prince told her it was because he was dreaming music.

The pair dated for two years and split in 1991. She was 18 years old when they met at a bar in Hollywood and  they were soon enjoying a romance.

However, when she broke up with Prince, who was 14 years her senior, it wasn’t amicable.

Friend says she spoke to  Prince’s half-brother Duane Nelson, before he died in 2013, who told her the singer got his energy from a “cocaine diet.”

She told People: “It was shocking to me to hear that. He hid it so carefully. I never saw him take even an aspirin. He seemed so health-conscious, always taking vitamins like echinacea and goldenseal.”

In 2003, Friend sued Prince for defamation and emotional distress, and claimed he psychologically abused her during their time together.

Court documents stated: “Prince informed me he took sexual relations very seriously. He believed he was the Messiah and if you engaged in sex with him, you became one with him.

“He would have me dress in his clothing at his whim. His staff were not allowed to look at me and I was not allowed to look at them.'”

Prince won the case.