Caren McCormack, who has four other adult children, claims she met Prince in Invercargill in 1976 when he was 17 and she was 16.

An Invercargill woman has been surprised by the interest in her claim that her son's father is the late American musician Prince.

A letter signed by both Caren McCormack and her son Max Stacey McCormack, known as Stacey, has been filed to the Bremer Trust, which has been charged with looking after the estate of the musician who died in April.

While she maintained she had been open about the paternity of her son to close friends and family over the last 40 years, McCormack said it was not until Prince's death that she decided to pursue the matter further.

GETTY/STUFF Caren McCormack says she met Prince when she was 16 and he was a travelling high school student of 17.

"I've been sitting on this for 40 years. It's time to put my money where my mouth is."

READ MORE:

* New Zealand man claims he is the heir to Prince's multi-million dollar fortune

* Prince dead: Singer's DNA tested as claims flood his estate

* US inmate claims Prince is his father, seeks DNA test

FRED PROUSER/REUTERS Prince performs. A lawyer representing Prince's estate said he was "somewhat skeptical" of the claim, but admitted that it was "theoretically possible".

McCormack said she was not interested in the money that would be potentially be inherited by her son as part of Prince's estate.

"We weren't going to proceed, but this is the last chance for proof really – that DNA won't last forever."

"It would just give us closure."

She said she met Prince in Invercargill in 1976 – when she was 16 and he was 17.

At this time, Prince was at the very beginning of his music career in Minneapolis and was also still attending high school.

McCormack declined to say why the 17-year-old would be in Invercargill at the time.

McCormack said she was aware of how unlikely the claim would sound to most people but she genuinely believed Prince was Stacey's father.

"I realise what the public opinion will be like – it's understandable."

Prince, born Prince Rogers Nelson in 1958, has no living heirs to his estate and died without writing a will.

His only child, Ahmir, died in 1996 just a week after being born, following complications from the rare genetic disorder Pfeiffer syndrome.

McCormack said although her son did not have any visible effects relating to the disorder, he was a carrier of the gene (unlike her other four children).

He also suffered from some mental illness and is unable to work so still lived at home and needed a degree of care, McCormack said.

"He's as independent as possible, but he doesn't communicate very well and gets muddled up with his thinking."

Although he had at one stage tried working full-time and living in a flat, "it didn't work out very well".

While he had never met the musician, Stacey also said he believed Prince is his father.

McCormack said she was surprised by the public interest in the claim, which was sparked after a letter was made public in the Carver County District Court in Minnesota.

"I wanted to keep it quiet until the results of the DNA tests came back."

David Crosby, a lawyer representing Prince's estate, said he was "somewhat skeptical" of the claim but admitted that it was "theoretically possible".

The McCormacks have been given until December 12 to arrange DNA samples for testing.

McCormack said the samples had been provided in August, but were now awaiting shipment from Auckland for testing in the United States.