The lyrics are expected to fetch to fetch more than £55,000, being part of a sale of several of his personal belongings and clothes from his decades in music. Nothing Compares 2 U was written by Prince for his band The Family, but became an international hit when Irish singer Sinead O’Connor covered it for her second studio album in 1990.

Whoever purchases the handwritten lyrics will also get a letter of provenance from Prince’s former assistant describing how she came to possess them.

It reads: “There was a knock on my door, and I looked out the bedroom window and saw a black BMW in my driveway and immediately recognised it as Duane’s, Prince’s half-brother.

“I went downstairs opened the door, and he only said ‘this is from Prince’ then he got in his car and left. Once I realised what Duane delivered, I was both stunned and humbled.

“Prince would use white console marking tape to adhere the lyrics to his vocal microphone; that tape is still on both pages.”

The auction will also feature an array of other items belonging to Prince, such as his stage-worn lace shirt and cufflinks from the Purple Rain Tour – also expected to make around £55,000.

A beaded jacket worn by the late singer in the 1986 film Under the Cherry Moon is likely to fetch more than £30,000.

Also at the Boston-based RR Auction are handwritten and signed lyrics from Bob Dylan’s 1965 hit Like a Rolling Stone – expected to make more than £35,000.

Whoever buys those will also receive a 2013 letter of authenticity from Jeff Rosen, president of the Bob Dylan Music Company, saying “to the best of my knowledge, there are only five of these manuscripts that exist as of the date of this letter.”

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