All The Times Princess Diana Played By Her Own Rules

Breaking down stigma barriers

When royals visited poverty and disease stricken regions, meeting people who had heartbreaking hardships in life, they would greet them from a distance and not come into much contact with them. Princess Diana however, had other ideas, and when she was introduced to people, sick or not, she would hug them and make them feel comfortable and loved.

Diana’s decision to do this made wavelengths around the world and helped break down barriers of the stigma in disease. Specifically, people couldn’t believe it when she shook hands with an HIV/AIDS-positive man without wearing gloves in 1987.