Prince reveals childhood epilepsy in rare interview

Famously reclusive and eccentric rock star Prince has broken his silence in a rare TV interview in which he revealed that he battled epilepsy as a child - and believes in various bizarre conspiracy theories.
 
Speaking in the first of a two-part interview with Tavis Smiley on the American PBS network, the second installment of which airs in the States tonight, 'the purple one' opened up about his struggles when he was still plain old Prince Rogers Nelson, and expressed the anger he felt when he discovered that George Washington was not, apparently, the first president of the United States.
 
The pint-sized superstar told Smiley: "I've never spoken about this before but I was born epileptic. I used to have seizures when I was young."
 
Things improved for Prince thanks to divine intervention. He remembers telling his mother that he had been visited by an angel who told him that he would no longer be ill. After that he revealed he turned into something of a show-off, which led to him being bullied - but also helped create the international icon he later became.
 
Prince also talked of his admiration for American comedian and civil-rights activist Dick Gregory, who ran for president in 1968. A song called Dreamer on his latest album is dedicated to Gregory.
 
It seems the track may be aptly titled. Gregory argues that George Washington was not the first president of America, claiming that several others held the ceremonial role before the the constitution was ratified. "When I found out there were eight presidents before George Washington, I wanted to smack somebody," said Prince.
 
More controversial still is Gregory's belief in 'chem trails' - a conspiracy theory that claims the condensation trails left by passing airplanes are not water vapour, but are in fact chemical sprays used by the powers-that-be to control society. It is not a view that has widespread support among the scientific community, but Prince is a believer. ·