Elton John: ‘Prince Harry has inherited his mum Diana’s special gift’

Elton John has praised British royal Prince Harry for inheriting his late mother Diana’s gift of making people feel “great.”
The Rocket Man singer made his comments in a teaser from the upcoming ITV and HBO documentary, Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy. Elton is one of a number of friends and family of the late Princess of Wales, who died in a car crash in Paris in August 1997, that contributed to the film. In the clip he spoke about Diana’s groundbreaking efforts to promote HIV and AIDS awareness in the ’80s, at a time when they were considered “gay diseases”.
“She had that incredible ability – which (Harry) kind of inherited – to make people feel at ease and make them feel that everything’s gonna be all right,” Elton praises in the documentary. “I haven’t experienced many people in my life who have that ability, but she could walk into a room of people and make them feel as if everything was great.”
Diana was an early and very public campaigner for HIV and AIDS awareness and treatment, and was renowned for making physical contact with AIDS patients, despite it being unknown at the time whether the disease could be spread that way.
“It was considered to be a gay disease,” continues Elton. “For someone who was within the Royal Family and who was a woman, and who was straight, to have someone care from the other side, was an incredible gift.”
Since his mother’s death, Harry has continued her work in raising awareness of the illness. In March (17), he travelled to Leicester to visit the Leicestershire Aids Support Service, the organisation his mother visited 25 years earlier. And last December, he teamed up with singer Rihanna to both take HIV tests while in Barbados on World Aids Day, to help challenge the stigma of getting tested.