We've come a long way. 

In 1533, Britain's Henry VIII made all homosexual acts punishable by death. Almost 500 years later, Britain's future king has posed for the cover of a gay magazine.

The Prince William issue cover.

Prince William has become the first member of the royal family to pose for an LGBT title, with an interview and cover photo in bestselling magazine Attitude, Buzzfeed has reported.

The magazine will hit newsstands this Thursday, and it could not be better timed, coming just a few days after a man killed 49 people at an LGBT club in Orlando, USA. 

"You should be proud of the person you are and you have nothing to be ashamed of," the Prince told Attitude. "No one should be bullied for their sexuality or any other reason and no one should have to put up with the kind of hate that these young people have endured in their lives." 

Prince William follows a number of other trailblazers to have made it on to Attitude's cover. David Beckham was the first high-profile footballer to pose for a magazine cover when he appeared on the magazine back in 2002, with then-Prime Minister Tony Blair featuring on the cover in 2005.