VADODARA: Manvendrasinh Gohil, the prince of the erstwhile state of Rajpipla who made his homosexuality public two years ago, has now declared openly that he has found a lover. Cupid was apparently following shoot-at-sight orders when Gohil first saw Michael Lower, a 35-year-old Briton.
Lower visited Rajpipla recently and he joined his royal lover in speaking to DNA during their visit to Vadodara.
“I met Mike in a gay bar in Britain and I felt that it was love at first sight for me,” Gohil said of Michael, who works as a media agent for an Indian in the UK. “I told Mike that I was in the UK to find love and then started dating him at coffee shops and restaurants.” Michael, who refers to Gohil as 'Mani', was smitten by the prince's unassuming ways. “Mani is very simple and I love him for that,” Michael said. “I was in a relationship before, for eleven long years, but for the past three years I have been single.”
Michael said that he has a son aged 14 through a relationship with a woman. “But I have not seen my son for a decade. I had realised that women are not a choice for me,” he said.
Michael and his newfound lover, however, may soon be sundered apart. “I want to stay longer, but it is not possible,” he said. “I stayed in Rajpipla, even met Mani's father who told me that Mani would be his successor to the throne. Meeting Mani has been one of the best things that have happened to me.” Michael said that he had a feeling that the distance between India and the UK would be an obstacle in love. “But a certain bond will remain forever.”
As for Gohil, his declaration of love has broken many hearts. But those who are besotted by him can take heart from the fact that his romance has a twist. Gohil revealed the secret: “Meeting Mike, dating him, and falling in love with him were all parts of a reality show shot in the UK.”
Gohil was a participant in a show titled The Undercover Prince, and was joined by the prince of the Zulus, a South African tribe; and the prince of Jaffna, the northern part of Sri Lanka. The first part of the three-phased show was shot at Rajpipla; that segment showed Gohil leaving for the UK. In second part, he lived a house with other princes. Unlike other reality shows, participants were allowed to venture out, but only as commoners, and had to work as well. Gohil was sent to a hotel as a housekeeper, a stint that forced him to wash bathrooms and polish furniture.
“Amid all the hard work, I was supposed to find the love of my life,” Gohil said. “This part of the programme was called ‘Passport to Love’. I met Mike and started dating him. I even told him that this was part of a reality show but never revealed that I was a prince. Rules forbade that.”
