In an interview with The Mirror, the executive director of the leading HIV charity made revelations about Lady Diana’s work and about her son, Prince Harry, who would always be determined to continue his mother’s legacy.
Nearly a year after stepping down from his royal duties, Prince Harry is determined to continue a cause that is close to his heart: the fight against HIV and AIDS. Ian Green, Chief Executive of the leading HIV and sexual health charity, Terrence Higgins Trust, told the Mirror that the impact of Lady Diana’s, and now her son’s, work was very important to them.
“I had the privilege of meeting the Princess a few times, not in relation to Terrence Higgins Trust, but with other charities,” he began, before adding: “And what I noticed about her was how sincere she was, how she would get people to make commitments, but in a really disarming way. And I certainly see that in Prince Harry as well.”
Terrence Higgins’ managing director also spoke in this interview about the importance of Prince Harry’s own actions in the fight against HIV testing. He revealed: “He said when I first met him about three, three or four years ago now that HIV was one of his real passions and one of the main causes he was going to focus on, and he has kept his promise.
And when he did an HIV test, publicly, there was a 500% increase in orders for HIV self-test kits on our websites. And he said very publicly that everyone should know their status.” Pleased with Prince Harry’s involvement, he added: “If someone is HIV positive and is on treatment, they will have good results now.
So I think he’s done a lot of work to encourage people to get tested, but he also continues to eliminate the stigma as his mother did. So I think there are these huge similarities between the two.
“I know we can always turn to him.”
Despite resigning as a senior member of the Royal Family alongside his wife Meghan Markle earlier this year, Ian Green assures that Prince Harry remains focused on HIV and AIDS issues: “He remains passionate and committed to HIV as a cause.
Together with our colleagues at the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the National AIDS Trust, we released the HIV Commission’s report a few weeks ago, more on a day-to-day basis, outlining what needs to be done to stop new HIV transmissions in the country by 2030, and the Prince publicly endorsed it and made a public statement. So he is still active. He is still there. I know we can always turn to him if we need his support and help.”