Prince Harry takes up Princess Diana's AIDS fight
Coldplay is rocking Kensington Palace Tuesday night, with Prince Harry cheering them on as part of his expanded charity effort to fight global AIDS.
Joined by Harry's frequent charity partner, singer Joss Stone, Coldplay will headline at the Sentebale Concert in Kensington Palace Gardens, which aims to raise money for teens with HIV supported by Harry's children's charity, Sentebale, in Lesotho, Africa.
Earlier on Tuesday, the palace press office announced that Harry will make fighting HIV/AIDS an intensified aspect of his charity work as a complement to what he's already doing and to honor his late mother, Princess Diana. In the 1980s, when she unhesitatingly embraced AIDS patients, the Princess of Wales helped shift worldwide attitudes towards sympathy for the victims of the disease.
"Building on his decade of experience in supporting young people with HIV in Lesotho through his charity Sentebale, the Prince is now determined to help his generation understand that the battle against the disease has not yet been won and still needs fighting," Kensington Palace said in a press release.
Thus, the Sentebale Concert Tuesday night, where Harry spoke to the crowd and his pal Stone, a Sentebale Ambassador, performed.
Sentebale, co-founded a decade ago by Harry and his friend, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, in memory of their late mothers, has been one of Harry's main charity efforts, along with support for veterans and wounded warriors, as a royal, and especially since he left the British Army in 2015. Now he's amping up his AIDS efforts in his portfolio.
Next month, he plans to meet with medical personnel caring for patients in South London, home to one of the highest concentrations of HIV-positive people in Europe, and will visit a sexual-health service that encourages regular testing for HIV and outreach to the partners of newly diagnosed patients.
Later in July, he will be the Sentebale Patron in Durban, South Africa, for the 2016 International AIDS Conference, where he will meet leaders in the field and deliver a speech to delegates.
In Southern Africa, HIV/AIDS remains the most common killer of adolescents, threatening an entire generation, the palace said. Harry plans to tackle topics including testing, treatment and prevention as well as the anti-stigma efforts famously championed by Diana, in the effort to save lives.