Prince Harry Teams Up With Coldplay, Jams With Joss Stone Ahead of Sentebale Charity Concert
The prince will host Coldplay and Stone at Kensington Palace.
— -- Kensington Palace announced today that Prince Harry will redouble his efforts on raising awareness about HIV and AIDS and its impact on young people over the next year.
"His Royal Highness wants to expand his own knowledge of the challenges and opportunities in the fight against the virus around the world," Kensington Palace said in a statement today. "This will see him tackling topics including testing, treatment, and prevention as well as anti-stigma efforts that were famously championed by his mother Diana, Princess of Wales."
Harry, 31, will kick off his efforts tonight by hosting Coldplay at Kensington Palace for a special concert to raise funds for his charity, Sentebale.
The prince formed the charity more than a decade ago in honor of his late mother, Princess Diana, who was one of the first people to champion the plight of those with HIV and AIDs.
Harry paid a surprise visit Monday to the Basotho Youth Choir of LeSotho while they were rehearsing for tonight’s concert in London with Grammy-winning singer and Sentebale ambassador Joss Stone.
Twelve choir members, ranging in age from 7 to 19, traveled from LeSotho, the southern Africa country where Sentebale was formed, to London to participate in the concert.At one point during the rehearsal, Stone suggested Harry join in with the choir, saying, “There’s your note, Harry.”
Harry, blushing, declined to join and replied, “I learned years ago I can’t sing.”
Harry was also reunited with a boy named Mutsu whom the prince took under his wing when he visited LeSotho 12 years ago. Harry presented the then 4-year-old orphan with a pair of wellies at their first meeting and a friendship developed.
Harry has returned to LeSotho each year since, checking on the progress of Mutsu and many of the other children struggling with AIDS and HIV.
Mutsu brought several gifts from his home country for Harry, including a framed picture of the two of them together.
Other upcoming engagements for Harry on his mission to shine a spotlight on HIV and AIDS include a meeting with doctors and nurses caring for patients in South London, according to Kensington Palace.
The prince will also travel next month to Durban, South Africa, for the 2016 International AIDS Conference on behalf of Sentebale.