'I wanted to do something to make my mother proud': Prince Harry reveals his inspiration for undergoing a series of HIV tests in a new ITV documentary

  • Prince Harry said he was 'inspired by his mother' to undergo HIV tests
  • ITV documentary has followed the Royal's visit to clinics in Lesotho
  • His example has led to number of home-testing kit requests rising by 500%
  • Princess Diana was well-known for her humanitarian work around the world 

By Jo Knowsley For The Mail On Sunday

Published: 17:04 EST, 17 December 2016 | Updated: 00:29 EST, 18 December 2016

Prince Harry has revealed how he was inspired by his mother’s memory to undergo a series of HIV tests.

A documentary to be broadcast on ITV tomorrow, Prince Harry In Africa, shows the Prince at his latest screening, which he says he has undertaken to promote HIV testing around the world. 

The programme follows him as he visits children’s centres and clinics in Lesotho, the home of his charity Sentebale, which was set up a decade ago for orphaned children and those living with HIV.

Prince Harry, pictured undergoing an HIV test, revealed his efforts to promote testing in Lesotho were to 'make his mother proud'

Harry says: ‘Just by going and having a simple blood test myself, requests for home-testing kits went up by 500 per cent.’

The Prince, 32, has had at least three HIV tests – most recently when he and singer Rihanna took one in Barbados on World Aids Day. 

Harry took another one in London in July. 

The Prince also speaks in emotional terms about his passion for carrying on the work of his late mother Diana. 

He tells broadcaster Tom Bradby he had started out in Africa, on his gap year, wanting to do something constructive with his life. 

Princess Diana, pictured in Zimbabwe in 1993, was well-known for her humanitarian work

‘I wanted to do something to make my mother proud,’ he says.

On his first visit to Lesotho, the Prince says he had felt he was only ‘the white, ginger Prince, who’d come to try to make the kids laugh’. 

But he discovered a bond with Prince Seeiso, of Lesotho, who had also lost his mother when he was young, and they co-founded the charity.

‘There was obviously a connection between us,’ Harry says. ‘His mother stood for something and my mother stood for something as well. 

'To a certain extent there was a lot of unfinished business – work that my mother never completed.

‘I’m not suggesting that either of us [he or Prince William] is going to take on that mantle. 

'But naturally there’s a crossover of some of the passion between myself and William that the two of us share with the work that our mother started.’

The Prince as he appears in the documentary is a far cry from the man who once seemed destined to be the ‘bad boy’ of the Royal Family. 

His greatest satisfaction comes from helping others. ‘It’s fun to be good, and boring to be bad,’ he concludes. ‘Though you can also be a bit naughty.’

  • Prince Harry In Africa, will be screened tomorrow at 9pm on ITV

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