Prince Harry makes bombshell announcement in new project with Hollywood A-listers

Prince Harry has featured in a new short film with Hollywood A-listers to call on people to help end AIDS. The Duke of Sussex, 41, is seen speaking from his Montecito estate in the UNAIDS video as he urges people to continue donating to UNAIDS.

In the video, Harry - wearing a black polo shirt - addresses how HIV and AIDS used to be ignored because of "stigma, shame and misinformation". The prince, who appears on the video alongside Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Charlize Theron and Thuso Mbedu, has been passionate about ending AIDS and supporting those with HIV for many years, especially in Botswana and Lesotho.

He said: "Right now, babies are being born with HIV due to interruptions in antiretroviral treatment for their mothers. Without urgent action to reverse these crippling funding cuts, 6 million more people will become infected with HIV while 4 million will die from AIDS-related causes within the next four years."

The duke, whose Archewell Foundation - which he set up with his wife, Meghan Markle - is believed to help the charity, continued: "It is not just the at-risk communities that will be affected.

"We've proven that sustained investment saves lives and builds stronger communities. Abandoning this life-saving work now would be a devastating betrayal of progress for the millions who depend on these essential services."

The film, which is calling on governments and donors to donate towards life-saving treatments and solutions, warns that funding has declined, which is resulting in a higher potential of preventable deaths.

This was discussed in the short video, which also heard from Fabian Quezada, a Mexican-born HIV activist, and Andiswa Cindi, a 22-year-old South African social media influencer who uses Tiktok to create awareness about HIV.

UNAIDS has also reported that funding cuts have resulted in shortages of health workers in many countries so far, including Eswatini and Mozambique.

It is believed the prince has always felt passionate about the causes as a result of the work of his mother the late Princess Diana. This is believed to be part of the reason why he co-founded his Sentebale charity, which he is no longer involved with as a result of a charity row.

The UNAIDS film, produced by Hollywood writer and producer Ron Nyswan, was shown tonight at the United Nations General Assembly.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has the overall aim of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths, with a mission to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.