Prince Harry needs to give up his right to the throne, right now he sounds like a reality TV star

Harry and the rest of the royals should renounce their titles and join us in the world of work

Unlike a traditional Royal, Harry is following the current trend for publicly sharing his emotions (Getty)

For any child, losing your mother is a terrible, life-changing event, but almost 20 years after the death of Princess Diana, it’s time for her youngest son to move on and stop revisiting the past.

With the publication of a revised edition of Andrew Morton’s book Diana – subtitled “in her own words” – previously inaudible sections of her original interview tapes have been enhanced to reveal the full extent of her fragile mental state, her eating disorders and suicide attempts. Having met Diana a few times, I can attest to her striking looks and charisma, but this woman was deeply unstable, manipulative and incapable of restraint. She couldn’t decide whether to woo the cameras or shun them, to speak to the press or to give them one her ‘tragic’ looks.

As Andrew Morton’s book confirms, Diana could be as petty as Charles and equally determined to seek revenge for a huge list of grievances. Diana was a terrific fundraiser and champion for social justice, but would have been a disastrous Queen. Harry seems to have inherited some of his mother’s insecurities. Recently, he and his brother headed a high-profile campaign to remove the stigma from mental health issues, appearing on radio and television, talking about their own experiences. Whilst Harry is to be congratulated on speaking out about depression, his latest interview with Newsweek reeks of self-pity. In short, it’s a whinge that doesn’t play well when our daily news is dominated by the horrific plight of thousands of council tenants who have just discovered they are living in potentially unsafe tower blocks. Imagine waking up every day, knowing your home is made from the same material that’s just killed dozens of people.

Unlike Harry, we don’t go about surrounded by bodyguards – imagine walking down the street to pray or go for a beer with friends and having someone mow you down in cold blood, screaming vile abuse. Those are ghastly problems none of us expected to have to deal with a few months ago. And yet this multimillionaire, privately educated, 30-something wants us to feel sorry for him?

Everyone who meets Harry says he is decent and likeable, coming across as a caring modern man with a sense of humour. Unlike a traditional Royal (and many older people), he is following the current trend for publicly sharing his emotions and his anxieties (but not the details of his love life) just like the stars of reality television do every day of the week. In the modern world, everyone is on their own special journey through life – I just wish we didn’t have to hear all the details of their inner turmoil – and the same applies to Harry.

Ok, he had to walk behind his mother’s coffin, but what about the hundreds of victims of the IRA bomb attacks? One cannot imagine how difficult it must be to carry on living in the same town or neighbourhood knowing that some of the people responsible are still walking free.

These days more men talk about their emotions in a way that was unthinkable a decade ago – Rio Ferdinand was the subject of a moving documentary about his struggle to bring up his family after the death of his wife from cancer. Blokes who once cultivated a tough persona (like Professor Green) have broken the taboo surrounding suicidal thoughts and depression. Jeff Brazier, a former reality star and a father to Jade Goody’s kids, has become a grief counsellor.

I applaud them all. But now it’s time for Prince Harry to stop asking for our understanding about his situation. After a fairly useless time at school, including controversy about his exam results, he had an interesting army career. Now, however, he spends his time dashing around the world supporting his many charity projects – at 32, he needs a proper focus in life. As for the future, blabbing that “no one in the Royal family really wants to be King or Queen” is a disaster.

Harry is a decent bloke, but he seems to be arguing for monarchy ‘lite’, with claims that the monarchy being “modernised” in a vague, undefined way. To survive, it should be slimmed down, and fit for purpose. Costs need to be slashed and the payroll hacked in half. The monarch is a national figure-head (exemplified by the Queen) and should be silent and dignified.

I didn’t notice The Duke of Edinburgh (96 years old) issuing a bulletin about his stay in hospital earlier this week. He and the Queen just get on with the job. Prince Charles is another person who could do more and say less. The rest of the Royals – including Harry – should renounce their titles and join the rest of us in the world of work.