In April 1987, Princess Diana made international headlines when she opened the first dedicated HIV/AIDS ward at the Middlesex Hospital in London. In front of the world’s press, she held the hand of a man who lived with HIV. This gesture challenged widespread fear and misconceptions about how HIV is transmitted. At a time when stigma and discrimination were rampant, Diana’s actions helped humanize those living with HIV/AIDS and broke down barriers of ignorance and fear.

Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Princess Diana became a passionate advocate for people affected by HIV/AIDS, using her platform to speak against stigma and promote compassion. She helped bring global attention to the epidemic at a crucial moment when many governments and societies were slow to respond effectively. One year before she died, in the summer of 1996, Diana, Princess of Wales, resigned from almost 100 charities of which she had been patron or president. Instead, she chose to concentrate on just six, which she felt most…