Meghan Markle, 42, admitted on World Mental Health Day that she’s dreading the day her two children join social media. The Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, 39, spoke at a panel in New York City on October 10 about social media’s harmful impact on the youth, and how she knows that the time will eventually come when her son Archie, 4, and daughter Lilibet, 2, have to deal with the online world.
“Being a mom is the most important thing in my entire life… outside of course, being a wife to this one,” Meghan said, looking over at her husband. “But I will say I feel fortunate that our children are at an age, again quite young, so this isn’t in our immediate future, but I also feel frightened by how it’s continuing to change, and this will be in front of us.”
Meghan continued, “They say being a parent, the days are long, but the years are short. So it worries me.” On the bright side, the mom-of-two did note that she’s been “given a lot of hope” that her and Harry’s Archewell Foundation has made “progress” in bringing attention towards families who have been hurt by the dangerous effects of social media.
“As parents, our kids are really young—they’re two-and-a-half and four-and-a-half—but social media is not going away,” Meghan further explained. “I think by design, there is an entry point that is supposed to be positive, in creating community and something has devolved, and there is no way to hear that and not try to help these families have their stories be heard.”
TODAY’s Carson Daly had a conversation with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the World Mental Health Day Festival about how to build a safer space online for kids and teens.
Daly also opened up about his own mental health journey. pic.twitter.com/HVWYBvaUJg
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 11, 2023
Harry also chimed in on the social media discussion after his wife at the panel. “I think for us, for myself and my wife, with kids growing up in the digital age, for us the priority here is to turn pain into purpose,” the Duke of Sussex said.
Meghan and Harry are raising their two children in Southern California after they left the British royal family and moved to America in 2020. The couple has spoken about the joys of parenthood and how much they cherish their time with their two little ones on several occasions, including when Harry did an interview on the TODAY Show while at the 2022 Invictus Games. The father-of-two said he loves “all” aspects of being a parent. “The chaos, the learning, the reminder of every element of yourself, your soul, right?” he added. “When you’re not a parent you can get sucked into all sorts of different stuff and maybe sometimes you forget who you are.”