The Royal family has been a significant part of UK culture for a millennia. With long-standing traditions remaining unwavering, more recent decades highlight the family's willingness to move away from tradition, becoming more open with their opinions and views on certain issues affecting society.
From Princess Diana showing support during the AIDS crisis in the 80s by visiting patients in hospital, to her children Prince William and Prince Harry supporting various charities that help the LGBT+ community. Even in a speech opening parliament, Queen Elizabeth II pledged to ensure that LGBT+ people were afforded equality.
Here's six times the royal family showed their support towards the LGBT+ community.
Prince William
In 2019, Prince William visited the Albert Kennedy Trust to show his support. A charity that focuses on working with LGBT+ homeless young people, he was there helping the charity open its new service centre which is based in east London. At the supporting appearance, he chatted with countless young people who the charity supported. During the event, Prince William openly said that he would be "absolutely fine" if one of his children told him they were gay. He said: "It worries me, not because of them being gay, it worries me as to how everyone else will react and perceive it and then the pressure then on them."
Prince Harry
2019 saw Prince Harry invite the CEO of transgender charity Mermaids to a discussion hosted by his own mental health charity, Heads Together. In a statement from the Prince, a spokesperson said: "Mermaids are one of a number of important organisations who are working on the frontline to support the mental health and wellbeing of young people in Britain." CEO Susie Green said at the time that the support from Prince Harry could "change the lives of trans youth."
Meghan Markle
Meghan Markle and husband Prince Harry went on Instagram back in 2019 to show their support for the LGBT+ community during Pride Month. They said: "This month we pay tribute to the accounts supporting the LGBT+ community - those young and old, their families and friends, accounts that reflect on the past and are hopeful for a deservedly more inclusive future. We stand with you and support you... Because it's very simple: love is love."
Princess Diana
During the 1980s AIDS pandemic, information was few and far between about the virus. Many LGBT+ people, in particular gay men, had fallen victim. Claiming the lives of thousands and disproportionately affecting the LGBT+ communities all over the world, Diana used her position to spread awareness. In 1987, the Princess of Wales visited the London Middlesex Hospital to help open the first HIV and AIDS unit in the UK. "If a royal was allowed to go in and shake a patient's hands, somebody at the bus stop or the supermarket could do the same," a nurse at the hospital told the BBC.
Queen Elizabeth II
Whilst the Queen was impartial and held her opinions secret, she did give formal speeches that addressed and promoted the LGBT+ community, amongst other topics. In 2017, Queen Elizabeth gave a speech at the State Opening of Parliament where she first announced a set of progressive social changes. She said: "My government will make further progress to tackle the gender pay gap and discrimination against people on the basis of their race, gender, disability, or sexual orientation."
Lord Ivar Mountbatten
The cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II, Lord Ivar Mountbatten made history in 2016, becoming the first member of the Royal family to publicly identify as LGBT+. In 2018, he married his partner, James Coyle, in Bridwell Park, which was the first same-sex wedding for the royal family in its 1,000-year existence. According to the Daily Mail, the Royal family was reportedly supportive of the Lord's LGBT+ status and announcement.
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