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‘Raj is my soul mate’

WITH A JEWELLERY tycoon as groom, she can count on a seriously impressive ring. Shilpa Shetty has revealed to The Mail on Sunday that she is to marry boyfriend Raj Kundra this year.

The pair have set a tentative date in October and plan to have a traditional ceremony in India, surrounded by family and friends.

The couple, who have been together for two years, are yet to make an official announcement out of respect for Jade Goody, who appeared with Shilpa in Celebrity Big Brother.

Shilpa was famously single for many years until she met Raj in early 2007. The actress remained tight-lipped about the romance for months, but the pair have been openly together for more than a year and have set up home in a seven-bedroom, £5million house in Weybridge, Surrey.

“I have very traditional views of marriage,” said Shilpa. “I’ve seen my parents maintain a 35-year marriage and I really believe marriages are made in heaven.

“I’ve always said that the day I decide to tie the knot it is going to be for good. I have often wondered who the right person would be and I’ve come to realise that for me it is Raj. I’m completely sure he is my soul mate.”

Raj, a 34-year-old millionaire, owns a Dubai-based business trading precious stones and metals and has also started to help manage Shilpa’s career.

He is believed to be behind her decision last month to invest £8million in the cricket team Rajasthan Royals, last year’s Indian Premier League winners. He seems as excited about the prospect of marriage as her.

Of the wedding, he said: “I have spoken to Shilpa’s parents and we are doing it the Indian way.

“In India you don’t get engaged until just before the wedding, so I didn’t go down on one knee to her or anything like that. But we have definitely set a date for this year.”

Although the couple are happy now, the start of their relationship was surrounded by painful accusations. When they began dating there were reports speculating that Shilpa may have played a role in Raj’s separation from his first wife Kavita and their then one-year-old daughter.

Shilpa has always denied any impropriety and the couple insist they only got together after Raj’s marriage broke up.