Princely visions at Cub

Prince really must consider more sensible footwear for traipsing around the Twin Cities. Shouldn't aging hips, punished by years of high-heel dancing, require it?

About 2 p.m. last Sunday in St. Louis Park's Cub Foods parking lot, Marilyn Grill claims she saw Prince, interestingly coifed and wearing a striking cashmere coat.

"His hair was done up in little curls all over his head. I'd swear on stack of Bibles up to the ceiling," Grill said when asked whether she was positive it was Prince. "I was coming out of the Cub, was walking towards my car. I saw this guy, tiny, tiny, tiny, in this beautiful cashmere camel coat. That caught my eye because that was expensive. I think it might have been a three-quarters length coat, but it was almost full-length on him. There were two women standing there already, and people were trying to get close. He just put his hand out and shook hands with all of us."

Whoa. This is where I started to doubt Grill again. Although Prince is changing as he matures, he normally keeps his distance from strangers and fans; he doesn't shake hands. There must have had some Purell in his pocket.

Continuing.

"There was this real nice-looking man with him," Grill said. "Had a real nice suit on, and a big briefcase he was carrying. I didn't want to stand around and stare, but this one lady came and she was shaking like a leaf, with a pen and paper in hand. Are you Prince? she said, and he shook his head. He told the little lady that he did not give autographs. He put his hand out and she shook it. Two ladies asked what he was doing," Grill said and began laughing, "in the Cub parking lot. I thought he said something about giving tickets away."

Giving away? Prince needs to sell tickets to concerts to pay $500,000 in back taxes to Carver County and a $2.95 mil bill ordered by a judge because of a missed concert date in Ireland.

Grill said she got into a debate with a Cub employee who doubted it: "I said, 'If it wasn't him, he's got a twin.' He was dressed to the nines. He'd be a hard one to look like. Why would you be standing out there if you weren't Prince?"

Seeking a comment from Symbolina, I left a note in his the automated fence at Paisley Park on Thursday. As usual, no response. Failing to find a Cub employee to back up Grill's story, I asked readers Tuesday if they had seen him out there. Jane Nygaard, of St. Louis Park, called the tips line to say she'd seen him and offer additional details.

"Well, he was walking the neighborhood before he went to Cub Foods," Nygaard told me. "The curly hair and the pouty lips got me. He and his bodyguard, over a foot taller than he is, both had cashmere tan coats on. They were each carrying a Bible and asking if we wanted to know about Jehovah's Witnesses," said Nygaard, who wasn't interested. As she and some people helping her with a kitchen tile project watched Prince move on to the next house, "Everybody says, Yeah, that's him. And we all commented on the shoes," Nygaard said, laughing. "Four-inch-high heels and a cashmere coat."

A Symbolic entry

Word has it that Prince's bodyguard helped Symbolina make a rude entrance at Janelle Monae's performance at the Varsity Theater.

Kittie Fahey, Greater Twin Cities United Way's donor consultant for major gifts, told me: "We were in the corner of the room when one of my friends was pushed aside by a couple of bodyguards. The guard told my friend to 'Move aside, man,' and his Purple Highness sauntered past. As usual, nobody even paid attention to him. Every Prince sighting cracks me up because his bodyguards make such a big stink, and nobody in Minneapolis really cares."

People were just being cool to Symbolina's face. Citypages.com reported that Twitter.com blew up with reports of his arrival.

Prince has got to hate Twitter. But I love this outstanding tweet from JayGabler cited by City Pages: "Before Twitter was invented, I'll bet Prince himself didn't know where he was sometimes."

Earlier in the evening, Fahey got to see WCCO-TV's Amelia Santaniello roar onto the stage of the Orpheum on the back of a motorcycle. She and her husband and co-anchor, Frank Vascellaro, kicked off the United Way's "Best of Awards."

Vascellaro's 30-pound weight loss was as attention getting as Santaniello's chunky-strappy-open-toed-high-heel-ankle boots suitable for fashion cycling or backing up Prince.

Embracing Denny

Journalistic eyebrows shot upward Friday when 'CCO's Esme Murphy shared an embrace with Denny Hecker as he left jail.

"Most people I cover don't hug me," she twittered. "Now I am getting hugs in the newsroom." She knows his "older kids, his younger kids and his grandson. I like them very much."

Hecker also might have been overjoyed that Murphy inadvertently helped Denny's car get picked up before it was towed.

WCCO photojournalist Bob Cowan shot video of the vehicle near the Government Center, where it was accumulating tickets at a meter. It wasn't until Murphy called someone to confirm it was Hecker's car that Denny's people knew where the ride was.

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com.