In April 1987, Diana, Princess of Wales, officially opened the Broderip Ward at the Middlesex Hospital in London, the first unit in the United Kingdom dedicated to caring for people with HIV and AIDS. At the time many people feared that the virus could be passed through casual contact, and even some medical staff and police avoided touching people with AIDS. For days before the visit, the press debated whether she would wear gloves.

She did not. Diana, then 25, had resolved to shake hands with patients on the ward without gloves. Only one, Ivan Cohen, a 32 year old man, agreed to be photographed with her, and only on condition that the picture be taken from behind so that his face would not be seen. The photograph of the princess clasping his hand was published around the world, and it publicly challenged the belief that HIV could be passed by touch. A nurse who was on the ward that day later told the…