One of the perennial criticisms from royal-knockers is that members of the first family of the Commonwealth don’t relate to its citizens or do enough to shine a light on problems that affect us in everyday life.

Those criticisms certainly can’t be levelled at Prince Harry.

One of his charms is his down-to-earth nature – something that wouldn’t come naturally to all with such a privileged upbringing. There’s also his desire to make a difference in any way he can – in many ways following on from his mother’s huge work in the charitable sector.

Like all servicemen and women who put their safety on the line by going into battle, Harry’s bravery while on service in Afghanistan has rightfully been honoured.

But one of his bravest stances didn’t involve him wearing military fatigues; instead it was a deeply personal interview with the Telegraph last year when he opened up on his 20-year mental health struggle.

The young royal revealed his mother’s death sent him into periods of dark despair, including a two-year period which he described as “total chaos”.

He admitted in the Telegraph interview that he had been “very close to total breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and lies and misconceptions are coming to you from every angle”.

For a time Harry said he “ran around going ‘life is great’ or ‘life is fine’.” But in reality, the opposite was true.

“I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the past 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well,” he said.

“I thought that thinking of her was only going to make me sad and not going to bring her back. So from an emotional side, I was like, ‘Right, don’t ever let your emotions be part of anything’.”

Harry sought help and openly talked of the benefit he felt from doing so. In speaking out, he joined other high-profile people who have shown that being in a position of power doesn’t make them immune from the same mental health issues that ordinary folk face.

He made a difference … something which he has made perfectly clear he wants to do in a raft of areas of life – just as his mother did.

It is something he noted in his speech in June 2017 to The Queen’s Young Leaders Awards, where he first congratulated young achievers, then said of their elder peers: “It’s our job – those of us who can no longer hand-on-heart call ourselves young – to create a platform where we can listen to the next generation and empower them to act”.

His official page highlights his varied charity work – with groups ranging from support for ex-servicemen and women and their families, to those that benefit youth and vulnerable people of all ages, children living with HIV/AIDS, and conservation initiatives.