WHEN PRINCE MANVENDRA SINGH GOHIL CAME OUT AS GAY, HE ELICITED THE IRE OF HIS ROYAL FAMILY AND THE FASCINATION OF THE ENTIRE WORLD—NOT TO MENTION CLOSET CONFESSIONS FROM MEN AND WOMEN OF HIGH STANDING. NOW, ONLY TRUE LOVE AND AN ADOPTED HEIR CAN COMPLETE HIS STORYBOOK LIFE. HE’S WORKING ON BOTH.
inside photographer Steven Klein’s New York studio, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil is dressed in an elaborate golden sherwani and turban, sitting for his portrait. A tall, slender man, Gohil is effeminate and gentle, and speaks with a naïveté that belies his 45 years, while at the same time exposing a quiet wisdom. “I’ve found the city very warm, very friendly,” he says. “America is fascinated by royalty more than other parts of the world are, perhaps because this country has never witnessed the excesses of monarchy. It’s like a fairy tale.”
Gohil, the thirty-ninth direct descendant in a 650-year-old dynasty, balks at the idea that his own life, up until 2002, could have actually resembled a fairy tale, despite his baroque upbringing. Born Yuvraj Shri Manvendra Singhji Raghubir Singhji Sahib, in 1965, to the Maharaja of Rajpipla and his wife, the prince grew up in lavish, if not stifling, surroundings. “Being born into the royal family,” he says, “is like being born into a cocoon.”
Gohil first caused a stir in 1991 at the age of 25 when he sought a divorce from his wife of fifteen months. The marriage was unconsummated and, by his own admission, a “total disaster.” His family outraged and his town distraught, Gohil awakened to the possibility that he might be gay. Despite sexual experiences with a servant boy throughout his teens and lingering desires after, Gohil followed the trajectory of a good son: an early, arranged marriage by his mid 20s, with the prospect of children and, most importantly, a future heir. But Gohil derailed that train with his divorce, then lived a decade as a single prince, enduring poking and prodding by family and townspeople. This resulted in a nervous breakdown in 2002, after which Gohil came out to his psychiatrist, who relayed the fact to Gohil’s family. He came out via messenger. And four years later, in 2006, he came out to the public.
Not unexpectedly, the revelation led his family to disown him, but not before a few last-ditch efforts against nature. His famously strong-willed mother consulted physicians about surgery and electroshock therapy that she hoped would turn her son straight. When doctors washed their hands of the situation, she took him to meet with religious and spiritual leaders, many of whom, Gohil claims, were gay themselves. “I would say my mother is a hard nut to crack,” he says. “But she has now come to terms with the reality that I cannot be made straight, that I will die as gay.”
Gohil arrived at Klein’s studio after a whirlwind tour of New York—his first since 1976, when he was just a boy—during which he hosted a lavish charity dinner and met with potential business partners regarding his small but ever-expanding publishing empire as well as his Lakshya Trust, an HIV/AIDS shelter and awareness group he established in 2000 in the Western Indian state of Gujarat. He currently serves as editor and publisher of two magazines, one called Fun, which depicts men and discusses male issues (essentially a gay lifestyle pub), the other Fantasy, which features women in a similar manner and is billed as an “Indian version of Playboy.” He is also involved in the production of a biopic of his life and an upcoming exhibition featuring his family’s collection of mid-century Indian art.
Since 2006, Gohil’s harrowing coming-out tale has been recounted often, most famously on Oprah in 2007—an appearance that catapulted the humble prince to international fame and made his endearing face a symbol of the developing world’s turbulent road to acceptance of homosexuality. “The show definitely affected me in a big way,” Gohil says. “It opened doors to a lot of things.” And he has gained an affinity for the legendary talk show host. “I would say she is my role model. I realized [on the show] that she is the type of person who believes in authenticity, in genuineness, and I could see a kind of struggle in her eyes. She is the type of person who believes in repairing cracks, which I think is a wonderful job.”
Gohil himself has been repairing cracks for over a decade. Through Lakshya, he has built a support system for individuals living with HIV and AIDS and launched India’s first government home for senior LGBT citizens. He and his staff regularly distribute condoms and encourage safe-sex practices, often to the chagrin of government leaders. “We have been exploited, extorted, blackmailed, and threatened,” he says. But the greater obstacles, he claims, are religious leaders whose narrow interpretation of scripture allows room for only one method of protection: abstinence. “It is very clear who is against us.”
While this work largely consumes Gohil’s days, there is still that pesky issue of who will inherit the throne. Gohil feels he must adopt from within his family. “My descendant must carry on the traditions and be a custodian of our rich cultural heritage,” he says. “And this adoption will necessarily be from the extended family, somebody who is already a royal and somebody who understands the value of our legacy.”
While that search continues, Gohil serves as a sort of touchstone for closeted men and women the world over. Lately, it seems, everywhere he turns, someone is desperate to come out to him. “A lot of people have confided in me,” he says, “and they’ve been from royal families, and not only in India but across the world. They’ve been industrialists, business tycoons, men and women with high-profile lives. Almost every week someone comes out to me.”
Perhaps one of them will be the one. The prince, you see, is looking for love. “I am single and ready to mingle,” he laughs. “And I haven’t been able to find anyone yet.” So what’s his type? “I think more than physical appearances I would give priority to the inner soul of a person, because physical appearances are always changing. Today you might look hunky and tomorrow you may not. We are all changing all the time. But the inner self stays the same, so that is what I would like to focus on.”
It look amazing! I always knew she had potential to do something like that. Dare I say it, she almost looks a bit like Snejana in the second screenshot.
OMG, who's that
