I CONFESS to harbouring some flakes of sympathy for Harry, the Prince of Sussex. Once, he rested in the soft folds of the British establishment with all the privileges it confers. Now, they have cast him out and gathered all of their toadies and bootlickers in the English media to portray him as psychotic and delusional, driven to turn on his family by his wicked wife.

Admittedly, he doesn’t help himself. In exchange for lucrative deals with publishers and television streaming platforms, he has admitted to some behaviours which – in his absurdly cosseted world – he regards as worthy of public sympathy, if not understanding. He killed 25 Taliban fighters; he snorted cocaine; his brother once pushed him over; he wore a Nazi uniform (but only because William made him do it); he didn’t much take to his dad’s new missus.

The reported revelation in his forthcoming book that an older woman took his cherry in a field near a pub is the only event from his otherwise spoon-fed existence that ordinary people might understand. I do hope he frames this experience as joyful and wonderful and not as an example of being exploited.

Yet, how did all his critics think this would turn out? When a group of people who are possessed of no ability other than to sport extravagant fancy dress are held up by millions to be worthy of adulation then it’s only natural that they become subject to a creeping psychosis.

Harry has lived in unimaginable luxury, surrounded by people who really do think he has a divine right to lord it over them. He has progressed into adulthood without any of the maturing checks and restraints that help form normal people. Thus, he will have absolutely no idea of how ridiculous are his pleas for our sympathy.

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He’ll have made millions for spilling his guts like this, but that doesn’t exclude him from my concern for his mental well-being.

Those of us who are compelled occasionally to use Twitter had recently observed a rather pleasing change in the atmosphere of this facsimile of human interaction. A rival micro-blogging site had emerged and many of the most self-regarding and unctuous moral arbiters flocked to it.

The main reason for this seemed to lie in Twitter’s takeover by the hated tech billionaire, Elon Musk (although none of them were able to quite put their finger on why they hated him so much).

Thus, Twitter for a while seemed a more decent place to visit, free from the sanctimony of righteous vigilantes flouncing on and off the platform whenever they felt that the rest of us weren’t behaving nicely.

Now, I see some of them are back. This may or may not have something to do with reports that the more progressive blogging site which had lately found favour with them is also a favoured destination of child porn merchants.

I note the emergence of a campaign group that “aims to secure Scotland’s re-entry into the European Union”.

This one has chosen a name for itself which is in the early running for the most grandiose title of the year: The European Movement in Scotland.

Like many other boutique political groups which secure funding it looks like another home for politicians resting between gigs. The former SNP MP Stephen Gethins appears in the nomenclature and the group has announced its new membership and campaigns co-ordinator is to be one David McDonald.

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Mr McDonald has previously been an SNP convener on Glasgow City Council for – and I quote – “Culture, Vibrancy and International Relations”.

Quite how you measure a vibrancy quotient in our public services is intriguing. If you’re a public body seeking funding does it help to do a wee dance to accompany your application? If so, I’m all for it.

This should go down well with Mr Gethins too. The former MP for North East Fife is on the judging panel of something called the Civility in Politics Awards. And what can be more civil than dancing and vibrating?

Mr Gethins is also a trustee of the John Smith Trust, the favoured public entity for mild politicians, seeking mild solutions for the world’s problems in mild ways. Its website tells us “We inspire and nurture a collaborative community of leaders working on governance, climate action and social justice to improve the wellbeing of our communities.”

Intriguingly, the Trust runs “intensive, four-week fellowship programmes twice a year in the UK for emerging leaders from 12 countries of the former Soviet Union. The programmes are built around three pillars – unique insight into UK institutions, personalised meetings and leadership skills development – which together offer both a broad picture and an individual focus.”

Now, why would a seemingly benign and artisan cappuccino political outfit be targeting “emerging leaders” in former Soviet nations? Perhaps they’re all vibrant as well as emerging.