Princess Michael: Daughter?s too young

London, Feb. 24: The daughter of Prince Michael and Princess Michael of Kent is not about to marry her Indian boyfriend, the British royal couple?s official spokesperson told The Telegraph.

It has been widely reported that Gabriella (?Ella?), 23, was about to announce her engagement to Aatish Taseer, a 24-year-old Sikh, whom she had met when they were studying together at Brown University, Rhode Island, in the US.

It was even suggested that Ella and Aatish might settle in India after their marriage.

Rumours of a possible engagement were given added currency by a report in the ?Mandrake? gossip column of the Sunday Telegraph, which stated: ?Prince and Princess Michael of Kent will announce that their elegant 23-year-old daughter is to marry Aatish early this year.?

The paper quoted Aatish, a trainee reporter with Time magazine, as saying: ?I will be heading back to India to pursue my career. The opportunities in media out there are excellent and I?m determined to give it a go. I?ve lived here in London and in New York, but Delhi is where I am from and where I want to be.?

However, in an interview to a reputable German Sunday newspaper, Welt am Sonntag, Princess Michael categorically denied her daughter was about to get married. Extracts from what is said to be an ?unusually frank interview? appeared in English translation in Sunday Times. The princess, whose mother tongue is German, spoke to reporter Dagmar von Taube:

Question: Your daughter recently got engaged to an Indian?

Answer: It is not true. Gabriella is so young and is not thinking about getting married. She is going first to Africa to write an article about guenons (monkeys) in the Kalahari. Why should she be sitting around in India with babies? I am very fond of her boyfriend. I would not be against a marriage even though I receive letters from many people who do not appreciate multicultural marriages.

The official spokesperson for the prince and princess confirmed to The Telegraph: ?They are not getting married ? that?s official. They are very young, they are just enjoying each other?s company.?

It so happens that Prince Michael has just returned to London from a trip to Delhi and also to Mumbai, where garments manufacturer and car racing enthusiast, Gautam Singhania, hosted a small dinner for 15 on his yacht for the British guest of honour.

?I don?t know why he went to India,? said the prince?s spokesperson, ?but it had nothing to do with his daughter.?

Friends of the prince and princess say the royal couple are ?cool? about their daughter having an Indian boyfriend and ?more than accommodating? about the relationship. But the media had ?jumped the gun? by reporting that a marriage was imminent.

Sources deny, however, that Gabriella?s parents disapprove of a possible marriage because they do not want their daughter to marry an Indian.