Why This Old Photo of Princess Diana Is Going Viral

An image of Princess Diana from 1991 that resurfaced on Reddit a few hours ago has been up-voted more than 3,800 times.

The photo depicts the Princess of Wales making what the original poster calls a "profound gesture" for the time: shaking the hand of an AIDS patient. (During the 1980s and early 90s, stigma surrounding the illness left many uninformed people afraid to touch HIV-positive patients.) The moment was captured by photographer Tim Graham during Diana's visit to Casey House, an AIDS Hospice in Toronto, Canada.​

It wasn't the first time Diana had shown affection and compassion for people living with the deadly disease. On April 24, 1991, she visited a Brazilian hostel for abandoned children, many of whom were HIV positive or suffered from AIDS:

In October 1996, she made bedside visits to patients at the London Lighthouse, a center for people affected by HIV and AIDS:

Diana became one of the first public figures to kiss an AIDS patient during a 1989 visit to London's Mildmay Hospital. Workers there said Diana, who reunited the patient, Martin, with his estranged parents "who had disowned him,"​ lifted his spirits. Martin died the following week.

Prince Harry acknowledged his mother's efforts "to change public opinion about HIV and AIDS" during an appearance at the same hospital last year. "That was a huge deal," he said.

​Via