By all accounts Thornton Prince was "tall, handsome and good looking with beautiful wavy hair." He was also known to have been a bit of a womanizer, a real ladies' man. Ms. Martin goes on to say that "...women handle cheating partners in all sorts of ways. Some look the other way. Others walk out. A few get even."
Thornton's wife chose the last option, or so she thought. After staying out all night he came home just before dawn and climbed into bed for a few winks, expecting his wife to cook him breakfast when he arose. She was in the kitchen preparing his morning meal and it wasn't dry toast or gruel. In fact, she made him his favorite meal, fried chicken. That was when she emptied her spice cabinet into the breading. There's no official record of all the ingredients she employed for that first hot chicken. But she was sure that she had spiced it beyond edibility.
As he took his first bite she braced herself for his reaction and to her amazement he didn't curse, or whimper or get angry. Her plan backfired. He loved it! And when he took the rest of the fried chicken to his brothers to taste, they loved it, too.
The marriage didn't survive, but the hot chicken concept did. The Prince Brothers turned her retribution into a highly successful business venture - Prince's Hot Chicken, the originators of what is now a Nashville standard.
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