India's only openly gay prince discusses coming out and turning his pink palace into a centre for at-risk LGBT+ people

Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil might have grown up in a vast and opulent rococo palace in prosperous Gujarat with servants responding to his every beck and call but it would be wrong to assume his life has been free of problems.

The Indian prince, who is the son and probable heir of the Maharaja of Rajpipla in Gujarat in western India, was forced to shroud his sexuality from public view for years. Marrying a princess of Jhabua State in Madhya Pradesh in 1991, Prince Mavendra lived a lie and his matrimony remained unconsummated for its entirety.

Unable to endure the secrecy, he eventually confided in his wife about his sexual orientation. Barely a year after the wedding she filed for divorce despite separation being virtually unheard of in India at the time and still massively taboo now.

Like many in India – where sex between people of the same gender is punishable by law – the 52-year-old kept his homosexuality a secret from everyone for many years after the divorce. Fortunately his wife kept her promise to never divulge his sexuality.

46 show all World news in pictures

1/46 9 February 2018 US Vice President Mike Pence and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's sister Kim Yo-Jong attend the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games AFP/Getty

2/46 8 February 2018 Bangladesh police charge towards activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party protesting following a verdict against opposition leader Khaleda Zia in Dhaka. The ex-Prime Minister of Bangladesh was jailed for five years on corruption charges. AFP/Getty

3/46 7 February 2018 Rescue services search for people in a damaged building in eastern Taiwan after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit Hualien on the night of 6 February, 2018. Media reports said several buildings were damaged and at least four people were killed and some 100 were injured during the quake. Teams are trying to rescue people inside the buildings. Some bridges and roads are damaged and the main road to Hualien is closed. More than 100 earthquakes have hit off Taiwan's east coast in the past three days. The Seismological Observation Center said they are cuased by the friction between the Philipine Plate and Eurasian Plate. EPA

4/46 6 February 2018 Anti-North Korean protesters push against police as a ferry carrying a North Korean art troupe for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games approaches the port of Mukho in Donghae. Around 120 North Korean art performers in matching red coats and fur hats left for the South, its state media said on February 6, the latest in the flurry of cross-border exchanges in the run-up to the Pyeongchang Olympics. AFP/Getty

5/46 5 February 2018 Philadelphia Eagles' Nick Foles celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl LII. Reuters

6/46 4 February 2018 Authorities investigate the scene of a fatal Amtrak train crash in Cayce, South Carolina. At least two were killed and dozens injured. The State via AP

7/46 3 February 2018 Members of security services react as a man in the crowd tries to shake hands with French President Emmanuel Macron, who walks next to Senegalese President Macky Sall in a street of Saint-Louis, Senegal. Reuters

8/46 2 February 2018 County Sheriffs restrain Randall Margraves, the father of three daughters who were abused by Larry Nassar, after he tried to attack the former team USA Gymnastics doctor who pleaded guilty in November 2017 to sexual assault charges, during victim statements of his sentencing in the Eaton County Circuit Court in Charlotte, Michigan. REUTERS

9/46 1 February 2018 Abu Rabih, 65, walks through the rubble with his eight-year-old grandson Yahya following air strikes by regime forces which hit the building where they live in Arbin, in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus. Arbin is in the Eastern Ghouta region which has been under government siege since 2013. AFP/Getty Images

10/46 31 January 2018 A 'Supermoon' shines its blood red colors during a full eclipse above the Big A Sign of Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. A 'Supermoon' commonly is described as a full moon at its closest distance to the earth with the moon appearing larger and brighter than usual. EPA

11/46 30 January 2018 A man wears a mask among fellow supporters as Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga (not pictured) takes a symbolic presidential oath of office in Nairobi. Reuters

12/46 29 January 2018 Tractors are parked outside a meeting of European Union agriculture ministers during a protest by Belgian farmers in Brussels. Reuters

13/46 28 January 2018 Bruno Mars accepts Record of the Year for '24K Magic' with his production team onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden in New York. Getty Images for NARAS

14/46 27 January 2018 Students with torches gather prior to a march in celebration of the 165th birth anniversary of Cuba's independence hero Jose Marti, in Havana. Reuters

15/46 26 January 2018 A firefighter inspects a burnt hospital after a fire in Miryang, South Korea. 37 people were killed in the fire, with the number of casualties likely to rise further. Kyungnam Shinmun via Getty

16/46 25 January 2018 Rescue workers and police officers stand near derailed trains in Pioltello, on the outskirts of Milan. Reuters

17/46 24 January 2018 Afghan police officers take position during a blast and gun fire in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Reuters

18/46 23 January 2018 Workers clean the beach of the coastal town of Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut, as garbage washed up and piled along the shore after stormy weather. AFP/Getty

19/46 22 January 2018 A Free Syrian Army soldier takes a selfie as fighters join up with Turkish troops near the Syrian border at Hassa, Hatay province. Turkey shelled Kurdish militia targets in Syria and claimed progress in a cross-border offensive that has stoked concern among its allies and neighbours.

20/46 21 January 2018 Palestinians take part in a protest against aid cut, outside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) office, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters

21/46 20 January 2018 Oscar Janicki, 6, participates in the Second Annual Women's March in Philadelphia. Reuters

22/46 19 January 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin bathes in an ice-cold water on Epiphany near St. Nilus Stolobensky Monastery on Lake Seliger in Svetlitsa village, Russia. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers will plunge into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

23/46 18 January 2018 People protest to call for a new DREAM Act to replace DACA in Los Angeles, California. Reuters

24/46 17 January 2018 Pro-democracy activists Raphael Wong and Joshua Wong arrive at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre after they were jailed on protest related charges following their sentencing at the High Court in Hong Kong. AFP/Getty

25/46 16 January 2018 Skyscrapers Oriental Pearl Tower and Jin Mao Tower (L) are seen from the Shanghai World Financial Center on a hazy day in the financial district of Pudong in Shanghai, China. Reuters

26/46 15 January 2018 Martin Luther King III, US Secretary of the Interior and others wait to place a wreath during an event at the Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall. AFP/Getty

27/46 14 January 2018 A boy stands with women loyal to the Houthi movement during a gathering held to show their support to the movement in Sanaa, Yemen. Reuters

28/46 13 January 2018 Diego Martin Duplessis of Argentina drives his Honda during the 2018 Peru-Bolivia-Argentina Dakar rally, 40th edition stage seven, La Paz to Uyuni. Reuters

29/46 12 January 2018 Angela Merkel speaks during a joint press conference after exploratory talks in Berlin. According to reports, the leaders of CDU, CSU and SPD parties after night-long talks agreed on a plan for formal coalition negotiations. EPA

30/46 11 January 2018 A Pakistani girl holds a picture of Zainab Ansari, an 8-year-old girl who was raped and kidnapped in Kasur, during a protest in Karachi, Pakistan. Anees Ansari, Zainab's father, accused the police of being slow to respond when his daughter went missing in the eastern Punjab province. Two people were killed and three others were wounded in clashes between angry Kasur residents and police after protesters enraged over her death attacked a police station in the city. AP

31/46 10 January 2018 India's Border Security Force (BSF) ‘Daredevils’ women motorcycle riders perform during a rehearsal for the Republic Day parade on a cold winter morning in New Delhi. Reuters

32/46 9 January 2018 Members of the South Korea delegation (R) shake hands with members of the North Korean delegation (L) during their meeting at the border truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas. North and South Korea began their first official talks in more than two years, focusing on the forthcoming Winter Olympics after months of tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. AFP/Getty

33/46 8 January 2018 Migrants in a dinghy are rescued by Libyan coast guards off the coast of Garabulli, east of Tripoli. Reuters

34/46 7 January 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron observes a minute of silence in front of the plaque commemorating late police officer Ahmed Merabet to mark the third anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack, in Paris. Rex

35/46 6 January 2018 Nicolaos Solis from Greece kisses the wooden cross which was thrown into the waters by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, during the Epiphany ceremony to bless the waters at the Golden Horn in Istanbul. AP

36/46 5 January 2018 Women mourn the death of a family member following a landslide in Kinshasa. Thirty-seven people died overnight when torrential rain and mudslides swept though shanty homes. AFP/Getty

37/46 4 January 2018 Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Mosab al-Tamimi, 17, who was shot and killed by Israeli troops, during his funeral near the West Bank city of Ramallah . Reuters

38/46 3 January 2018 People take part in pro-government rallies, Iran. Tasnim News Agency via Reuters

39/46 2 January 2018 Indonesian bus passengers watch as Mount Sinabung spews thick smoke in Karo, North Sumatra. AFP/Getty

40/46 1 January 2018 People take part in the traditional New Year's Day swim in Scheveningen, Netherlands. Rex

41/46 31 December 2017 Fireworks explode over Sydney Harbour during New Year's Eve celebrations. EPA

42/46 30 December 2017 An Indian muslim lifts a stool with a metal rod pierced through his cheeks to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Rafai Papa Miyan Sai at the Shah-E-Alam Dargah shrine in Ahmedabad. AFP/Getty

43/46 29 December 2017 A New York apartment fire killed at least 12 people, including a baby, with four more critically injured. Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference from the scene that 'it is the worst fire tragedy we have seen in this city in at least a quarter century.' Reuters

44/46 28 December 2017 Afghan women mourn inside a hospital compound after a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. Reuters

45/46 27 December 2017 Pope Francis greets newlyweds during his weekly general audience at Aula Paolo VI in The Vatican. AFP/Getty

46/46 26 December 2017 Rohingya refugees walk next to a pond in the early morning at the Balukhali refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Reuters

But this was not easy and in 2002 Prince Mavendra had a nervous breakdown and found himself in hospital. It was there that his psychiatrist told his parents he was gay. This did not go down well and his parents insisted his sexuality must be kept a secret. They tried to “cure” him with both medical and religious measures.

If this was not bad enough the prince’s life was thrown into yet further disarray and chaos after he publicly came out as gay. The revelation was not only breaking news all over India but also grabbed headlines worldwide. In his home state of Rajpipla, effigies of the prince were burned and people called for him to be robbed of his title and ostracised. His parents brought out public notices saying they wanted to publicly disown him and disinherit him from the ancestral property.

“Coming out in India is very difficult. There is so much stigma. Society doesn’t allow parents to accept it,” the prince, who is the first and only openly gay royal in India, tells The Independent.

“Parents blackmail their children and force them to get married to the opposite sex. People in the community tell me their mothers have threatened to kill themselves if they are gay. They do not want their mother to jump into a well so they are pressured to get married.”

The royal said homelessness is a massive problem in the LGBT+ community in India. “People in India are so attached to their parents they are not able to live without them. When they try and come out parents do not understand and disown their children and throw them out of the home. The children don’t know where to go and are homeless,” he said.

“I need to rescue these people who have been rendered homeless otherwise they will die, commit suicide, or get depressed.”

Prince Mavendra is not talking in vague, nebulous terms and actually has a solution in mind. The royal is going so far as to transform his 15-acre pink palace into a centre for vulnerable LGBT+ people.

The centre aims to deliver clinical services, financial support and skills training for young LGBT+ people so they are able to become financially independent from their families. He will run the centre with his community-based organisation The Lakshya Trust which he started to support gay men and educate people about the prevention of HIV/Aids.

“There are two aims. One is social empowerment and the other is economic empowerment,” he explains. “The idea is to teach people how to become self-reliant so they can earn their own living based on their skills and talents. There is a lot of discrimination which the community faces so we want people to feel confident.”

The royal, who says he has been thinking about the idea for 15 years, also plans to use the centre to offer free safe-sex seminars to young LGBT+ people across India and run workshops with parents who have accepted their children’s sexuality. He is constructing more buildings to house visitors to the centre who will be able to stay in shared accommodation.

The aptness of the palace being pink is not lost on Prince Mavendra. “Our city is called the pink city of Gujarat and most of the buildings are painted pink,” he explains. “It has been pink for almost 300 years now and I always say maybe one of my ancestors painted it pink because they knew one of their relatives would like it.”

He says the palace was visited by many Hollywood stars back in the day and that Ian Fleming, who wrote the James Bond series of spy novels, visited the palace as he was a friend of his great-grandfather’s.

But the prince is not getting the centre up and running on his own and has procured the support of Kanwar Amarjit Singh – a 28-year-old Indian royal who is also an LGBT+ activist.

Prince Mavendra is so appreciative of Mr Singh’s decision to help with funding he has named the centre after him – it will be called Hanumanteshwar Amar 1927. Mr Singh, who divides his time between India and London, describes the prince as his “mentor” and explains their ancestors were great friends.

Mr Singh, who runs a feminist art gallery near Kings Cross in London called Amar Gallery currently showing Guerrilla Girls artwork, was driven out of India at the age of just 20 after he spoke out about supporting gay rights – though he himself is heterosexual. The activist, who is the main funder and support of Prince Manvendra's LGBT centre, runs a grassroots network of activists in India that confronts the oppression of the LGBT+ community and women through education.

“We work on advocacy for LGBT+ and women’s rights,” Mr Singh says. “It makes me so angry the police in some townships are beating gay men and people for handing out condoms, and girls as young as four being forced into prostitution".

“We connected a decade ago and he has been a champion for LGBT+ rights since I have known him. I consider him as an ally,” Prince Mavendra chips in.

Kanwar Amarjit Singh and Prince Mavendra (from left to right)

Over in India Prince Mavendra also emphasises the importance of education and uses his platform to speak to university students about LGBT+ issues. In fact, the royal has had something of a turnaround since coming out and being shunned by society after coming out.

He has not only been accepted by his family but has been on The Oprah Winfrey Show three times and even appeared on Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

“Oprah’s interview was a big turning point in my life,” he reflects. “The whole of society had turned against me but the moment I got invited on things changed. She was extremely nice to me, said she had interviewed many people in the last 25 years, but I was one of the most honest people she had ever met.”

Despite the progress Prince Mavendra has made and continues to make in India, it is worth remembering that Indian law continues to criminalise sexual acts between members of the same sex and homophobia remains deeply culturally ingrained. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court of India has ordered a review of the legislation later this year.

In Prince Manvendra’s view, the problem is rooted in Indian society’s attitude to sex as a whole. “It is a taboo to even speak about sex and there is no sex education in schools,” he says.

Ironically the prince, who campaigns for the reform of India’s anti-LGBT+ laws, says homosexual behaviour is far more accepted than heterosexual behaviour in the country. “Men are affectionate with each other but heterosexual behaviour is not accepted,” he explains. “Our country is a paradox in that way. It is very easy to get a room for same sex at a hotel but if a male and female want a room you have to prove the relationship.

“There are so many people in the closet living a double life; you’re supposed to live the way society wants you to live”.