Prince Harry has given 'constant support' to Rugby star Gareth Thomas since HIV diagnosis

Gareth Thomas has shared that Prince Harry gave him his "constant support" after his HIV diagnosis.

The Rugby star, who went public with his diagnosis in 2019, recently spoke to People magazine about the support he received from the British royal. He said about the Duke of Sussex, "He's been a great supporter of me publicly and privately since I spoke about my diagnosis. And you know, I realized when I spoke about my diagnosis, I started this conversation. But I needed to keep the conversation going."

The former Welsh player added, "So that's why I started a campaign, Tackle HIV, with ViiV healthcare and The Terrence Higgins Trust. But we needed other voices and other people — and from day one, Harry has been a constant support to the campaign."

Prince Harry has participated in Thomas's "Tackle HIV" campaign on multiple occasions, and also appeared in a recent video chat with him in support of National HIV Testing Week 2022 in the U.K. During the virtual chat, the 37-year-old remembered his late mother Princess Diana, who was known for her work for HIV positive patients and had opened the U.K.'s first HIV/AIDS unit at London's Middlesex Hospital, a space that would exclusively care for patients with the virus. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the hospital.

Harry said, "What my mom did, and what so many other people did at that time, was to smash that wall down. To kick the door open and say, 'No. When people are suffering, then we need to learn more, and if there's a stigma that's playing such a large part of it, then what we really need to do is talk about it more.'"

The father-of-two added, "What my mom started all those years ago was creating empathy and understanding...but also curiosity, which I think was really powerful."

Thomas noted that Harry wants to finish what his mother started, and for that, they need people and their attitudes to change in the same way that science and medicine have changed. He went on to describe the royal as a "very caring, empathetic person."

"Whenever I do anything with Harry, it always goes well," the 47-year-old said.