Prince Harry Visits HIV Hospital

Prince Harry visited a hospital for people with HIV and met with its patients and staff on Monday, which is something his mother Diana did before she passed away. The young prince went to Mildmay Mission Hospital in London that serves as a shelter for patients with HIV. Kerry Reeves-Kneip, the fundraising director for the institution, told the prince how his mother visited the hospice 17 times before she passed away, hoping to dismiss the negative view regarding the disease.

Reeves-Kneip added that Princess Diana had public visits and private ones where she would, "take tea and cakes with the staff, and gossip. She gave a lot of comfort and love to the people here," according to the Associated Press.

One of the patient present at the hospice during Prince Harry's visit was a 26-year-old woman, born HIV-positive, who was only two years old when Princess Diana visited the Great Ormond Street Hospital.

"Your mother's lap was so comfortable and I cuddled into her," the woman said to Prince Harry.

"I remember that too," the prince replied, according to US Weekly.

Reeves-Kneip also noted how shops near the hospital refused them service because of their role aiding in the treatment of HIV patients, but in 1989, Princess Dianna kissed an HIV patient on the cheek which helped break the negative notion against the disease.

"She came at such an important time - around this area local barbers wouldn't cut staff's hair. She really did break down the stigma," she said, according to Sky News.

The institution has been treating and providing care for people inflicted with diseases since the mid-1860s such as cholera. After closing in 1982, it was re-opened in 1988 and served as a hospice for patients dying of AIDS-related sicknesses. In 1990, it expanded its service to areas more prone to HIV such as Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, then to Zimbabwe and Rwanda, according to the History of Mildmay.

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Prince harry, London, AIDS, Royal family