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‘It is now our duty to explain why it was important to change this law. Many don’t agree with the Supreme Court’s decision,’ he says, referring to the 2018 legalisation of homosexuality. ‘There is still a lot of work to be done. While the prince and his husband can now live freely in India, Prince Manvendra says he won’t rest on his laurels. The couple live together, blissfully happy.
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I went to Brighton and slept with men,’ he says, chuckling. ‘We weren’t instantly romantically involved. It was a slow burn, Prince Manvendra says with a grin. In 2013, he got married for the second time – more felicitously, to a man: DeAndre Richardson, an American he met on social media. He is particularly admired by India’s young people, who see him as a progressive figure. ‘People are proud that I have achieved something for a common cause, not just for myself.’ Yet there is still plenty of bigotry, and he has spent much of lockdown preparing a property in the palace grounds to be a refuge for at-risk LGBTQ+ Indians. Gradually, he has seen attitudes in India start to change around him. But when the prince was growing up, extremely close and tactile relationships between men were the norm. Now it’s finally legal, after a landmark 2018 ruling by the Supreme Court of India. When Prince Manvendra was married, homosexuality was a criminal offence. India’s record on LGBTQ+ rights leaves much to be desired. There was no point living a life I didn’t want to live.’ Being closeted and having to lie… I felt I could not live a double-standard life. ‘I had suicidal thoughts, of course,’ he says softly when asked how he coped. Disgraced, but on good terms with his ex-wife, the prince returned to Mumbai, a divorced virgin in a parlous mental state. They married in 1991, but the relationship fell apart after a year. Undaunted, his parents decided to become masters of his fate once more, by setting Prince Manvendra up with a young princess he barely knew, from another state. ‘The doctor said to my parents that there was nothing wrong with being left-handed and that trying to change me would cause serious mental issues,’ the prince recalls.
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So they sent him off to the doctor, as they would years later when he told them he was gay. Prince Manvendra was left-handed, and the religious rituals the family performed were mostly designed for right-handers.
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On the rare occasions his parents did interact with him when he was a boy, it was often to find fault. Afterwards, King George V and Queen Mary invited the maharaja to their box to celebrate. He kept racehorses, too – one of which, Windsor Lad, won the Epsom Derby in 1934. Prince Manvendra’s great-grandfather, the last ruling maharaja of Rajpipla, from 1915 until 1951, owned Rolls-Royces and built roads, train lines and an electricity and water supply for the region. Get your pride on GayPrideHub is your one-stop shop for all things Gay Pride We offer an array of LGBTQ products including Rainbow Jewelry, Clothing and more. Before India abandoned its monarchical system, the family was notorious for its lavishness: at one stage they had about 100 servants in the palace kitchen. Prince Manvendra was raised with his sister in the lap of luxury. And although India is a democracy today, royal dynasties – the firmly conservative Gohils in particular – are still revered. By the time of the 33rd Gohil ruler, Maharana Verisalji II, in the 19th century, the dynasty was even standing up to the British. The princely state of Rajpipla was second only to nearby Baroda in terms of size and importance, and even saw off onslaughts from Baroda’s Gaekwar rulers. Over the centuries, the prince’s Gohil ancestors faced invasions from sultans and emperors, and sometimes used guerilla tactics to defend their land. The Gohil Rajput dynasty from which Prince Manvendra descends can be traced right back to the sixth century, when Muhideosur Gohadit became chief of an area near modern Idar, in Gujarat, in 556. Although Prince Manvendra’s family had to tighten their belts, they hardly starved they kept their royal palace – built in 1915 – and turned it into a tourist attraction, which allowed them to live well. Yet, to this day, honorary titles are used for princely descendants, many of whom carry out royal duties as if nothing had ever changed. Prince Manvendra was six when his father, then a maharaja, became a commoner. India ‘de-recognised’ its monarchy in 1971. ‘When the pandemic is over, you must come and stay here,’ he says firmly. Random lgbt generator.‘How old are you?’ he asks, inquisitive.