Princess Diana Advocates for AIDS Patients—Much to the Queen's Dismay—in a Clip from CNN's 'The Windsors'
The Windsors, CNN's doc-series about the British royal family, is set to wrap up on Sunday, with its fifth and sixth episodes airing back-to-back. Both cover the Windsors' recent history, featuring plenty of Princess Diana content—and, in the final episode, some insight into the younger generation (hello, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle!).
Get a taste of the fifth episode, "The Princess, The Prince, and the Press," in the above clip, shared exclusively with Town & Country. In the video, experts discuss Princess Diana's work de-stigmatizing HIV/AIDS, praising her for finding a way to use her royal role to help those society had cast aside.
"AIDS was being described as some kind of gay plague," one expert explains, providing context for Diana's decision to get involved. "People talked about it almost in terms of leprosy—that if you touched someone with AIDS you might contract it yourself."
Another narrator notes that the Princess of Wales deliberately didn't wear gloves, freely shaking hands with AIDS patients at a hospital and "showing the world that she had no fear."
The clip then cuts to archival footage of Diana debunking some of the common myths about how AIDS spreads. "HIV does not make people dangerous to know, so you can shake their hands, and give them a hug. Heaven knows, they need it," she says into a microphone, apparently speaking directly to the press.
But Diana's work with AIDS wasn't without its critics. One expert notes that the royal family's "older members" were "appalled" that she leveraged her royal role to get involved. Adds another, "I remember one particular day when Diana went to see the Queen, and instead of saying, 'Oh, well done,' she said, 'Well, what do you want to do that for? Why don't you do something nice?'"
Watch it in full above, and tune in to CNN on Sunday, September 6 at 9 p.m. ET to watch The Windsors' final episodes.
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