Prince Harry has made a speech at the International AIDS conference where he spoke proudly of his mother's charity work to raise awareness for AIDS and to remove stigma surrounding the disease.
The 31-year-old spoke about Princess Diana's work, saying: "She started very punchy [on AIDS]. She smashed the stigma around HIV on more than one occasion. It had a huge impact, and a huge impact on my life as well."
© Photo: PAPrince Harry spoke about his mother at the conference
He recalled the moment his mother comforted a man dying of the disease, saying: "When my mother held the hand of a man dying of AIDS in an East London hospital, no one would have imagined that just over a quarter of a century later treatment would exist that could see HIV-positive people live full, healthy, loving lives."
"But thanks to the work of leaders in the fight against HIV – people like Nelson Mandela, Sir Elton John, the brave activists of TAG and ACT UP, people like Dr Peter Piot, and like my mother, Princess Diana – we have made huge progress."
The fifth-in-line to the throne has been encouraging people to take a HIV test, and showed just how easy it was by live streaming his own test on Facebook. He joked: "So whether you're a man, woman, gay, straight, black, white, whatever – even ginger – why wouldn't you come and have a test?"
© Photo: Getty ImagesPrince Harry spoke about his mother's work
Elton John shared the video on his own Instagram account, writing: "In 1991, Princess Diana moved a mountain by addressing the stigma surrounding people living with HIV/AIDS. She showed the world we could safely wrap our arms around AIDS patients, by shaking hands with a patient without gloves.
"Today in London, Prince Harry gave that stigma a knock on the head by showing the world how easy and simple it is to take an HIV test. Bravo Prince Harry! Your mother would be so proud of you."
