Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are already considering how social media could impact their children.
On Wednesday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Archewell Foundation Parents’ Network revealed The Lost Screen Memorial in New York City.
Part of the foundation’s “No Child Lost to Social Media” campaign, the installation consisted of 50 art pieces designed to look like large cellphones. Each featured a lockscreen photo of a child who died due to social media-related harms.
As part of the unveiling, Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, attended a private vigil with the parents of the children depicted in the display.
During the event, which Business Insider attended, the Duke and Duchess also shared their thoughts on the dangers of social media — and how it might impact their children.
Helping parents feel less alone
The Archewell Foundation officially formed The Parents’ Network in August 2024 after first testing it in 2023. Today, the network supports parents who lost children due to social media-related harms, offering them resources and a place to connect with families with similar experiences.
The Lost Screen Memorial is a culmination of that work, both in that it created a physical representation of those who died and because it brought many members of the network together in person for the first time. The installation will only be up in New York for 24 hours, though it is also available to view online.
Amy Neville, whose son Alexander Neville died in 2020 of a fentanyl overdose, described The Parents’ Network as “an amazing home” for parents like her at the vigil.
“When this type of thing happens in your life, you feel like you’re alone. You feel like you’re an enigma,” Neville said at the event. “We can come into this space and be around these families and just feel normal.”
“It’s been a place for us to be able to recharge,” Todd Minor said of The Parents’ Network’s role in his and his wife Mia’s life after their son Matthew died.
“We’ve been advocating, and year after year trying to get bills passed at the state and federal level,” he said. “We’re able to go to The Parents’ Network to recharge and just share. It’s just an additional family to us.”
Harry and Meghan have been active in The Parents’ Network since its inception, and they greeted many of the families at the vigil on Wednesday as old friends.
Several parents who attended told BI that it was gratifying how knowledgeable the couple is about the dangers of social media.
“It’s nice to know that somebody who has maybe some influence is actually paying attention and is going out there,” Neville said of the duke and duchess.
Researchers are still studying how social media harms youth and how to address it. In June 2024, the surgeon general proposed putting government warning labels on the platforms.
The Sussexes have struggled with social media
Harry and Meghan have seen the darker sides of social media firsthand, becoming the targets of coordinated harassment during their time as senior royals. Harry has also said that online bullying and the amplification of harassment from UK tabloids contributed to his and Meghan’s decision to step back from the monarchy in 2020.
They stopped using their joint Instagram account the same year and have been largely absent from social media since then.
“Life is better off of social media,” Harry said while speaking to BI and other outlets on Wednesday. He added that he and Meghan are glad their children, Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, haven’t aged into social media yet.
“We’re just grateful that our kids are too young to be on social media,” he said.
However, the prince also said he realizes that, given our digital world, that likely won’t always be the case.
“The easiest thing to say is to keep your kids away from social media,” he said. “The sad reality is that the kids that aren’t on social media normally get bullied at school because they can’t be part of the same conversations as everybody else.”
Harry said he hopes social-media companies will do more to make their platforms safe for children.
“While social-media companies claim to be taking action, most still withhold critical data from grieving parents — data that could provide answers and accountability,” Harry said. “This is a growing crisis. Social media is quietly taking our children, and those with the power to make change are failing to act.”
Meghan, who also spoke at the Time100 Summit on Wednesday, returned to Instagram in January before launching her company, As Ever, and her Netflix show, “With Love, Meghan.” She made her first post on New Year’s Day, sharing a video of herself running on the beach.
The duchess has mostly posted about her business endeavors on her new page and doesn’t allow comments on her posts, limiting trolls’ access to her content.
Meghan shares small snippets of her personal life, including photos with Harry and videos of her cooking at home with her kids. However, she keeps Archie and Lilibet’s faces off her page, highlighting her and Harry’s focus on their children’s privacy.
“I think for those who do choose to be online and to be in social media as adults that we get to set the example and really put as much good and joy into the world as we can,” Meghan said on Wednesday.
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