Prince Harry and Meghan Markle open up about this very relatable parenting fear

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have opened up about the issues that concern them most when it comes to their little ones, Archie and Lilibet—and it's something so many of us can relate to. 

During an Archewell conference in Hudson Yards, New York, the Duchess of Sussex looked visibly emotional discussing how 'frightened' she is of the potential negative impacts of social media on her children. 

With Prince Harry by her side, she explained to the audience at the Archewell Foundation Parents’ Summit on Mental Wellness In A Digital Age: "I feel fortunate that our children are at an age, quite young, so this isn’t in our immediate future, but I also feel frightened at how social media is continuing to change and this will be in front of us.

"At that time, it was impossible to not be in tears, as I’m sure some of you have been today hearing those stories. You can hear those stories again and again and it’s still going to have the same emotional impact because it’s just that devastating."

It's no surprise that Meghan feels strongly about negative online culture, given her own experiences with trolling and negative press in the British Media, previously calling herself 'the most trolled person in the entire world'.

The Duchess went on to say: "Social media is not going away and look, I think by design, there is an entry point that’s supposed to be positive and create a community, and something has devolved. There’s no way to hear that and not try to help these families have their stories be heard."

Meghan has previously opened up about her own experiences with trolling, speaking on the Teenage Therapy podcast back in 2020 in honour of World Mental Health Day. 

Meghan said she was told that 'in 2019, I was the most trolled person in the entire world - male or female'.

She continued during the interview: "[For] eight months of that, I wasn't even visible, I was on maternity leave with the baby - but what was able to be manufactured and churned out, it's almost unsurvivable, it's so big you can't even think what that feels like."

Meghan then went on to say what devastating impacts this can have on a person's mental health, explaining: "I don't care if you're 15 or 25, if people are saying things about you that aren't true, what that does to your mental and emotional health is so damaging."

Meghan's no stranger to discussing important mental health issues in conferences and on podcasts, and is always advocating for increased awareness alongside her husband.