One clear view has emerged from the sorry tale of Prince Harry's drink-and-drug problems last week. If his mother had been alive, the third in line to the throne wouldn’t have gone off the rails.

For a start, the 17-year-old Prince wouldn’t have become “Home-Alone Harry”, as one broadsheet dubbed him. He would have been spending at least half the school holidays with Diana in London or some sun-drenched resort, not hanging around country pubs.

The months of June and July, when a bored Harry seriously misbehaved, are the busiest in the royal calendar for his father. With all the will in the world, no man can be both mother and father to any youngster, particularly a man whose work takes him away from home for long stretches.

Now royal observers fear that the loss of their mother has damaged both boys more than most people realised. Top London psychiatrist Raj Persaud, speaking on ITV ’s This Morning, pointed out: “The loss of a mother is the most traumatic event in any child ’s life, and the youngsters most likely to get involved in drugs are those who don’t get much attention from their parents. Don’t forget Harry comes from a broken home.”

To read more from the expert opinion of our own royal correspondent Judy Wade as she analyses the catalysts and repercussions of Harry’s mistakes, see this week’s HELLO! magazine, on sale now.