Queen Elizabeth tried to prevent Princess Diana’s groundbreaking work with HIV/AIDS, according to a former employee of the Princess of Wales. Here’s how Diana raised awareness about the disease and how Prince Harry continued her work.
Princess Diana was a true champion of HIV/AIDS awareness
Diana, Princess of Wales, was known as “The People’s Princess” for many reasons, including her warm personality and ability to connect with the public. She also earned the title by working with many charities and raising awareness about HIV/AIDS.
In 1987, at the height of the AIDS epidemic, Diana opened the UK’s first HIV/AIDs unit at London Middlesex Hospital. Photographs from the event show her shaking hands with an HIV-positive man without gloves. At the time, many misbelieved that HIV was transmittable through touch. The pictures of Diana were revolutionary in teaching the public about the true nature of the virus.
“Princess Diana was a true champion of HIV awareness. She brought passion to the cause, and did things which were truly remarkable,” said Ian Green, chief executive of the HIV charity the Terrence Higgins Trust, in a 1997 interview (per Tatler). “She was the first person of profile who was prepared to shake hands and touch people with HIV, which at the time was seen as a risk. This statement publicly challenged the notion that HIV was passed from person to person by touch.”
Diana became an official patron of the National AIDS Trust and spoke at their events. In 1993, she discussed the impact on mothers and children, further dispelling the idea that the illness only affected the gay community. “For those mothers and children already living under the shadow of AIDS, we need to help them back into the light, to reassure them and support their needs,” she said. “And maybe we will learn from them how to live our own lives more fully, for however long it may be.”
Queen Elizabeth reportedly wanted Princess Diana to ‘get involved with something more pleasant’ than HIV/AIDS work
According to Princess Diana’s former royal protection officer, Inspector Ken Wharfe, Queen Elizabeth tried to put a stop to her involvement with HIV/AIDS charities.
“The princess would go to see the queen on a number of occasions,” Wharfe revealed during the 2008 inquest into Diana’s death (per Express). He said she once returned to the car looking “distressed.”
Read Related Also: The Paul McCartney Song that Outsold The Beatles in the U.K.
“I asked, ‘What’s the matter?’ and she said, ‘The queen doesn’t like me getting involved with AIDS and said, ‘Why don’t you get involved with something more pleasant?’” said Wharfe. “I think Diana was very angry and annoyed that the queen could not see what she was doing. Diana felt a member of the Royal Family should be involved with campaigns to find a cure for AIDS.”
He added that Queen Elizabeth’s private secretary was “incredibly jealous” of Diana’s public appeal. “They didn’t like the fact that Diana was in the national media daily,” the inspector said.
But Diana continued her work with HIV/AIDS anyway, touching the lives of many and leaving a lasting impact.
Prince Harry carried on his mother’s work
Queen Elizabeth may not have approved of Princess Diana’s work with HIV/AIDS charities, but the Princess of Wales’ younger son, Prince Harry, continued her legacy.
Harry met with singer Rihanna in her native island, Barbados, on Dec. 1 (World AIDS Day) to spread awareness about the disease. They both got tested for HIV on camera to show the public how easy it is.
Both of their tests came back negative, but Harry later emphasized in a Facebook Live that a positive result isn’t necessarily a death sentence. He stressed the importance of an early diagnosis to prevent transmission, urging everyone to get tested like he and the “Umbrella” singer did.
“It’s better that everyone goes and gets tested,” the Duke of Sussex said (per Billboard). “Why wouldn’t you? Whether you’re a man, woman, gay, straight, black, white, whatever, even ginger, why wouldn’t you come and have a test?”
