NEW YORK (AP) — Love, grief, loss, legacy are just a few of the reasons Mayte Garcia is stepping back into the purple light with a new memoir covering her 11 years with the late music icon Prince. 

Garcia was just 16, a fan and a professional belly dancer, when her mother slipped one of Prince's entourage a videotape of her daughter dancing. They were at one of his concerts, and Prince watched right away, summoning her backstage.

Letters and phone calls followed as a friendship blossomed, regardless of their 15-year age difference. At nearly 18, she became part of his working life; by 19, she was his lover (it's time, he told her, for birth control).

They married when she was 22. She was pregnant two months later, but they lost their baby boy to a rare genetic disorder six days after birth. Their grief over the passing of their precious Amiir, which means Prince in Arabic, would contribute to their divorce in 2000, Garcia said while promoting the recently released book "The Most Beautiful Girl."

Garcia — the subject of Prince's hit "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" — hadn't seen him for many years when he died April 21, 2016. The 43-year-old regrets that she didn't get in touch earlier that year when she learned through of old friends and band members that he wasn't doing well.

"I started writing this book years ago. I wanted to remember, just, my childhood," Garcia said. "People would tell me, especially after my marriage to Prince, you need to write a book because you've had a crazy life."

She added: "It was never like a tell-all or to talk bad about my relationship and my past. Actually it was done for love, and then when he passed, then I really felt the urgency to do it because I know a lot of people are going to come out with books and stories, but none like mine."

Prince was intensely private; he shied away from the spotlight, did few interviews and intentionally tried to create mysterious image. But Garcia, who also starred in VH1's reality show "Hollywood Exes," said he didn't try to stop her from putting out a memoir.

"He was aware that I was writing a book. He never said anything."

Garcia says she never saw Prince take drugs. A medical examiner has ruled his death was due to an accidental opioid overdose.