Prince Harry is a modern day prodigal son and I hope he comes home - Christa Ackroyd

But it was enough to put the whole sorry state of affairs on the front pages once more.

I do not think Royalty is uppermost in his mind but rather a broken family who for the sake of self preservation have cut themselves off from one who has done nothing but speak ill of them, and now regrets his sense of isolation. Why it has taken him so long I do not know. But I understand why he might feel now is the time. Before it is too late.

Harry’s father, the King has been seriously unwell. He is also a man in his seventies. And he has been put in an intolerable position by his feuding sons of having to chose, which is largely Harry’s own fault of course.

But should that be forever? I think not. But it will be a bitter pill for William at least to swallow, having remained silent and yes, dignified, when all the while he must have been shouting, it’s so unfair.

It is a living example of the parable of the prodigal son, the bible story I remember so well from my Sunday school days, of the wayward child announcing he wants to come home having spent all of his father’s inheritance and the celebrations which ensued, leaving the faithful child to question why?

Why was the proverbial red carpet, or in the proverb the silken robe and the fattened calf being offered to one who had been disloyal? The answer is complex.

It is intertwined with both love of family and contrition, which is exactly what Harry must show now if he is genuinely seeking a way back.

But can he? Is he genuinely feeling sorry for the mess he has caused rather than feeling sorry for himself? Only he can answer that. I happen to believe it is a bit of both.

I can almost hear you shouting at me that he has made his bed and must lie in it. And I entirely understand the strength of feeling the very thought of any kind of return will engender.

I am certainly not suggesting for one moment we should dust down the ermine and re decorate the Royal palace. But there are signs, for me at least, that slowly but surely Harry is learning the important lesson he has lost along the way. Loyalty.

The whole debate was sparked when Harry made a brief visit to Britain for a family funeral, that of his uncle Robert Fellowes, who served the royal household as the Queen’s private secretary and was married to his late mother’s sister.

Reports suggest the two brothers not only didn’t sit together but barely acknowledged each other. Yet still he came, very much Harry entering into the lion’s den to quote another biblical reference.

It is said that at around the same time Harry reached out to some of his former acquaintances and asked them to help broker a way back.

And for everyone’s sake that would be a welcome first move, surely? But first Harry has got to ask himself why he wants to. Is it because he is bored? Is it because he feels his plans for a better life have proved the old adage the grass is not always greener? Of is he genuinely sorry for the pain he has so obviously caused? Only the latter will see the doors opening and the icy hearts thawing.

What happens next is up to Harry. He has a lot of making up to do.

Yet I do see a chink in the armour of his ‘its my life and I live it as I want to’ attitude which led to him writing that obnoxious book and giving that toe curling ´poor me’ Oprah interview and that he has now ditched the advisors who gave him such poor advice in the first place. But still I can’t help feel sorry for him.

Harry, the Prince, led a very sheltered life. The very nature of his birth means he was surrounded by yes men and courtiers who pandered to his every whim.

Even his bad behaviour, which let’s face it was never that bad, as a young man, he was excused because he was so vulnerable when his mother died.

But damaging though it must have been, he must know in his heart of hearts she would never have wanted this life for him, isolated from his family and living in a gated community alone with his thoughts save the woman he said he was giving it all up for. That’s as might be.

I have always said it was their decision to make. But he knew the rules, never complain never explain. In other words shut up and put up.

Yes, his own mother broke those rules once, in that Panorama interview, which she deeply regretted. She knew she had said too much and that it was a hollow fleeting victory. But through it she found a voice which could, had she have lived, have done great good in the world. Just as Harry could have done.

She also found a sense of peace and self worth that her youngest son is yet to discover. But although Harry was a child when she died, there is no excuse for what he has done.

At 39 he is two years older than when his mother was killed on that fateful day in Paris. But if he means what he has hinted at, that he regrets his actions, then he must be man enough to spell it out, firstly to his father, then to his brother and yes to us.

You might say he owes us no explanation. But he does. The Royal family is at the very heart of British life, or it is for me. Attack them and you attack Great Britain.

You will note I have said nothing about Meghan. Too often she has been portrayed as the villain of the piece and Harry the fool who has gone along with her schemes. I happen to think that is too simplistic.

But one thing is true, they have had a long time to contemplate their actions, actions which have made them look both foolish and very self centred.

And even their latest venture of selling high priced condiments must make them realise you can’t always have jam on it when it comes to life.

I do hope like the prodigal son Harry finds his way home. Not for good, if that is not what he wants, but for his family.

I re-read the parable of the prodigal son in preparing to write todays column and was struck by the explanation the father gave his eldest child on the news his wayward brother was being welcomed back into the fold.

‘Son… we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.‘

It is a salutary lesson for one who believed he would be happier going it alone. Harry, if you want a way back the ball is firmly in your court.

And it begins with a show of humility and that little word that is perhaps the most powerful in the English language.. sorry. But you have first to mean it and then to show it.