This post was originally going to be an overview of Princess Diana’s work advocating for sufferers of HIV/AIDS. But as I started to research I learned something I’d never known before about the photo above. The story is incredible, and heartbreaking, and definitely deserves its own post.
The year was 1987 and Princess Diana was opening the first ever HIV/AIDS ward in a hospital in the UK. This was six years after the first case of AIDS had been diagnosed in 1981, and months after the “Don’t Die of Ignorance” campaign, where pamphlets on how the disease was spread were circulated to every household in the U.K. The AIDS epidemic was now known to the whole world, and the fear and shame surrounding the disease was enormous. People who worked in the AIDS ward of the Middlesex Hospital didn’t even want to tell people where they worked, the stigma was so great.
As she always did, Princess Diana entered the ward with a warm smile, prepared to listen to the patients’ stories and comfort them. She took off her gloves to shake their hands—a vital moment of advocacy, considering so many still thought the disease could be transmitted from regular touch—and sat with them. Of the ten patients she met that day, only one agreed to take a photo with her. The others declined, fearing identification and the stigma that came with it. People with AIDS were seen as morally degenerate and dirty, and homophobia was rampant. Gay men were disenfranchised, attacked, and neglected by the very institutions that should have been protecting them the most.
The photo above shows the terminally ill man allowing himself to be photographed from behind (and in a private room so no one save Diana and the photographer would know who he was). It’s a stunning moment of bravery: the man allowing himself to be photographed to help others, even though he couldn’t bear to have his face shown. And there’s Diana showing the real and lasting positive impact royals can have on the world.
I feel like people who weren’t around or very young at that time cannot fathom how impactful her involvement was. To have a royal Princess touch people with HIV/AIDS was simply not done. I’m sure she was not cheered on by the royal family but she changed many peoples opinions.
[I actually just wrote a super long comment about this very picture and the impact it had on the UK (and the world really)](https://www.reddit.com/r/popheads/s/F28f7o9JQX) but TLDR: this is one of the biggest and most prominent examples of how celebrities really do have the power to make social change with their philanthropy. The story behind this photo and more so how Diana supported the gay community during the height of the AIDS pandemic is so gut wrenchingly beautiful, I wish it was talked about more often.
Attention from the establishment or someone famous makes such a difference
5 comments
This post was originally going to be an overview of Princess Diana’s work advocating for sufferers of HIV/AIDS. But as I started to research I learned something I’d never known before about the photo above. The story is incredible, and heartbreaking, and definitely deserves its own post.
The year was 1987 and Princess Diana was opening the first ever HIV/AIDS ward in a hospital in the UK. This was six years after the first case of AIDS had been diagnosed in 1981, and months after the “Don’t Die of Ignorance” campaign, where pamphlets on how the disease was spread were circulated to every household in the U.K. The AIDS epidemic was now known to the whole world, and the fear and shame surrounding the disease was enormous. People who worked in the AIDS ward of the Middlesex Hospital didn’t even want to tell people where they worked, the stigma was so great.
As she always did, Princess Diana entered the ward with a warm smile, prepared to listen to the patients’ stories and comfort them. She took off her gloves to shake their hands—a vital moment of advocacy, considering so many still thought the disease could be transmitted from regular touch—and sat with them. Of the ten patients she met that day, only one agreed to take a photo with her. The others declined, fearing identification and the stigma that came with it. People with AIDS were seen as morally degenerate and dirty, and homophobia was rampant. Gay men were disenfranchised, attacked, and neglected by the very institutions that should have been protecting them the most.
The photo above shows the terminally ill man allowing himself to be photographed from behind (and in a private room so no one save Diana and the photographer would know who he was). It’s a stunning moment of bravery: the man allowing himself to be photographed to help others, even though he couldn’t bear to have his face shown. And there’s Diana showing the real and lasting positive impact royals can have on the world.
Learn more here:
https://www.tatler.com/article/princess-diana-hiv-aids-awareness
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-55973726.amp
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/royals/princess-dianas-compassion-kindness-others-27861205.amp
https://www.newsweek.com/princess-diana-history-aids-viral-tiktok-video-1724132
Diana’s power of connection is incredible.
I feel like people who weren’t around or very young at that time cannot fathom how impactful her involvement was. To have a royal Princess touch people with HIV/AIDS was simply not done. I’m sure she was not cheered on by the royal family but she changed many peoples opinions.
[I actually just wrote a super long comment about this very picture and the impact it had on the UK (and the world really)](https://www.reddit.com/r/popheads/s/F28f7o9JQX) but TLDR: this is one of the biggest and most prominent examples of how celebrities really do have the power to make social change with their philanthropy. The story behind this photo and more so how Diana supported the gay community during the height of the AIDS pandemic is so gut wrenchingly beautiful, I wish it was talked about more often.
Attention from the establishment or someone famous makes such a difference