Princess Diana received praises for her philanthropic works for the monarchy, especially the time she opened everyone's eyes in the issue about AIDS. However, there are reports that Queen Elizabeth tried to prevent the former wife of her son, Prince Charles, from getting involved with the AIDS campaign in the '80s, despite its positive result.
The mother- and daughter-in-law are said to have a clash often when she was still with the royal family. Although there are claims that the late Princess of Wales helped changed the royal family forever through her warmth and compassion and dubbed as People's Princess because of her charitable works, Her Majesty tried to stop her.
Princess Diana's former protection officer, Inspector Ken Wharfe, revealed during her 2008 inquest that when he asked her after she met Queen Elizabeth, she said the monarch didn't want her to get involved with works about AIDS. The leader of the monarchy also suggested that she should just be involved with more pleasant issues.
"I think Diana was very angry and annoyed that the Queen could not see what she was doing," he said, via Express. "Diana felt a member of the Royal Family should be involved with campaigns to find a cure for AIDS."
Wharfe also revealed that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's private secretary was jealous of Princess Diana's success that made her won the public's heart. Allegedly, they didn't like the fact that Diana was in the national media every day.
Despite Queen Elizabeth's objection, Princess Diana managed to champion the AIDS movement. In 1991, she famously said during the Children and Aids Conference that the disease didn't make people dangerous to know, BBC noted. Hence, they could shake their hands and hug them, as it was something that they more needed.
Princess Diana managed to change the perception of AIDS when she shook the hand of a patient with AIDS in 1987. At the time, she opened the U.K.'s first-ever AIDS ward. She didn't wear gloves, a move that shocked even the nurses, but she shook AIDS patients' hands.
A lot of people were afraid of the illness due to a lack of understanding and misinformation in the mid-'80s. However, Princess Diana changed the belief that AIDS could be passed through a touch. She successfully showed in one gesture that people infected with the diseases needed compassion and understanding more than fear and ignorance. From here, she won not just people of the U.K.'s hearts but all over the world.
