When the Duchess of Sussex met parents whose children had been victims of online bullying, she skipped formalities and offered them a warm hug.
Meghan Markle, 43, took to Santa Barbra with Prince Harry, 39, to support grieving parents as part of their new initiative called The Parents Network, forming a new branch of the Archewell Foundation.
In an interview for American broadcaster CBS, the royals discussed the launch with anchor Jane Pauley and hugged and spoke with parents who lost their children to suicide, which in many cases was linked to social media usage.
The CBS segment praised the Sussex’s willingness to hug members of the public, with the news anchor saying at the start of the interview: ‘Harry and Meghan are definitely big huggers’.
It’s an act not often associated with members of the royal family, and in the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, the mother-of-two previously revealed how her hugs haven’t always had a positive reception.
Meghan Markle was praised on American broadcast network CBS over the weekend for being a ‘big hugger’ – a characteristic she has repeatedly demonstrated, including during a 2018 visit to the Hubb Community Kitchen in London (pictured)
Talking in the 2020 docuseries, the 43-year-old revealed she was ‘barefoot’ and wearing ripped jeans when she first met the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Meghan said she did not know the ‘formality’ carries on behind closed doors and that she is a ‘hugger’, which she did not realise was ‘jarring for some Brits’.
In the explosive Netflix docuseries, the mother-of-two admitted she was ‘surprised’ there is a ‘forward facing way of being’ in private.
She said: ‘Even when Will and Kate came over and I was meeting her for the first time I remember I was in ripped jeans, I was barefoot. Like I was a hugger, I have always been a hugger I didn’t realise that is really jarring for a lot of Brits.’
‘I started to understand that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside, that there is a forward facing way of being and then you close the door and think “OK we can relax now”. But that formality carries over on both sides and that was surprising to me.’
Despite attracting mixed feelings from others, Meghan has continued to embrace the public on various occasions, including Invictus Games participants, with her photographed hugging swimmer Danielle Pothoof at the medals ceremony last year.
It was also a running theme during the Sussex’s three-day tour of Nigeria in May, during which Meghan thanked Nigerians for welcoming her to ‘my country’, where she hoped she can ‘do justice’ to being a ‘role model’.
The Duchess of Sussex, who recently discovered she is ’43 per cent Nigerian’, wowed crowds in May as she and Prince Harry conducted a whirlwind ‘royal’ tour of the African nation.
Meghan is no stranger to showing warmth when it comes to meeting members of the public, including Luke Vincent, aged five, from Buninyong Public School, at Dubbo Airport (pictured)
Harry and Meghan were shown embracing parents from The Parents’ Network as they met in person for its launch
The mother-of-two did not hold back when it came to hugging members of the Nigerian public, with her photographed hugging various individuals lining the streets to meet her.
It’s of little surprise then that Meghan greeted parents on the CBS segment with a warm embrace – an action that received praise news anchor Jane Pauley.
During the interview, Meghan said she has ‘only scraped the surface’ of discussing the suicidal thoughts she had while a working member of the royal family, three years after she told Oprah Winfrey she ‘didn’t want to be alive anymore’ while living in the UK.
Meghan first spoke of her suicidal thoughts while being a working royal in an bombshell interview with Oprah in 2021.
She now says she hopes her candour will help others and will encourage people to check in on their friends.
‘I think when you’ve been through any level of pain or trauma, I believe part of our healing journey, certainly part of mine, is being able to be really open about it,’ the duchess said.
‘And I haven’t really scraped the surface on my experience but I do think that I would never want someone else to feel that way.
‘And I would never want someone else to be making those sorts of plans and I would never want someone else to not be believed.
‘So, if me voicing what I have overcome, will save someone or encourage someone in their life to really genuinely check in on them and not assume that the appearance is good so everything’s okay, then that’s worth it.
‘I’ll take a hit for that.’
The mother-of-two embraced members of the public during her quasi-royal tour of Nigeria with Prince Harry in May
Last year, Meghan hugged swimmer Danielle Pothoof at the Swimming Medals Ceremony during day seven of the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf
Harry and Meghan have released a new CBS interview about cyber abuse, with the Duke saying parents have to be ‘first responders’
Meghan said that ‘opening up’ is part of the healing process and she hopes her candour will help others
The Duchess of Sussex told Oprah in 2021 she ‘couldn’t be left alone’ and told her husband she ‘didn’t want to be alive anymore’ before claiming the Buckingham Palace HR department ignored her plea for help because she wasn’t a ‘paid employee’.
‘I was really ashamed to say it at the time, and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry especially, because I know how much loss he suffered. But I knew that if I didn’t say it, that I would do it … and I just didn’t want to be alive anymore,’.
Describing how she considered ending her life believing it ‘was better for everyone’, Meghan said: ‘I knew that if I didn’t say it, that I would do it. I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought. I remember how he just cradled me.
‘I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help. I said that ‘I’ve never felt this way before, and I need to go somewhere’. And I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution’.
She said that after confiding in her husband, she was forced to go to the Royal Albert Hall for a charity event in January 2019, claiming photos from that night ‘haunt me’.
She told Oprah she later reached out to one of the best friends of Diana, Princess of Wales, because she felt unsupported by the palace.
She said: ‘When I joined that family, that was the last time I saw my passport, my driving licence, my keys – all of that gets turned over’. Meghan said Harry had ‘saved my life’ by agreeing to move to Los Angeles.
At the start of the CBS segment, Meghan was seen in a clip hugging bereaved parents
Meghan first spoke of her suicidal thoughts while being a working royal in an bombshell interview with Oprah in 2021
In the pre-recoreded interview, Harry and Meghan also met with a group of parents who lost their children to suicide.
Host Jane Pauley said the pair were ‘no strangers’ to online bullying’, with footage showing the couple hugging bereaved parents with Meghan saying she is ‘so happy’ they came.
Harry also spoke of the ‘scariest thing’ about social media being ‘absolutely anyone’ can lose a loved one.
‘We always talk about in the olden days, if kids are under your roof, you know what they are up to. At least they’re safe.
‘But now, they could in the next room, in a tablet or phone, going down these rabbit holes, and within 24 hours they could be taking their life’.
Meghan also discussed their own experience with their children, Archie and Lilbet. She said: ‘Our kids are young, they’re three and five, they’re amazing, but all you want to do as parents is protect them,’ the Duchess said.
‘And so as we can see what’s happening in the online space, we know that there’s a lot of work to be done there and we’re just happy to be able to be a part of change for good.’
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have launched an initiative aimed at tackling child safety online.
Called The Parents’ Network, Harry and Meghan have joined a group of parents have come together, to help offer a ‘safe and supportive community is available to all parents and caregivers navigating the complex digital world’.
This group includes those who ‘have first-hand knowledge of the pain and destruction caused by social media use’.
A description of the network on the Sussexes’ Archewell Foundation website says: ‘Each of us have been through something no parent should ever have to experience, and our mission is to prevent anyone else from suffering the way we have.
Throughout the interview, Meghan also spoke about her ‘amazing’ children – Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three
‘For anyone who has a child affected by social media harms, we are here to support you. Our safe and supportive community is available to all parents and caregivers navigating the complex digital world.’
As part of the campaign, which carries the slogan #NoChildLostToSocialMedia, a video featuring parents who have lost their children to suicide because of online harm has been posted on the Foundation’s website.
In addition, a list of three guides has been posted on the site, each tackling a social media platform, including Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok.
The guides are described by the site as being ‘repurposed in partnership with The Social Media Victims Law Center’.
Compiled using information from the Center’s online social media guides, they include information about what each platform is used for, and how caregivers can ‘improve their child’s safety’ while they are using them.
One of the couples featured in the interview was Donna and Chris Dawley whose heir 17-year old son, C.J., died from suicide after what they believe was depression fuelled by social media use.
They told Jane they believed he had a ‘demon in his bedroom’.
‘We had no idea what happened to our son,’ said Donna. ‘You know, he had a beautiful car. He had a job he liked. He was happy kid’.
‘Sisters that loved him, parents that adored him,’ said Chris added.
He added that he was so addicted to his phone, he died with it still in his hand.
‘He still had it in his hand, the phone; that’s how addicted he was,’ said Donna. ‘He couldn’t even kill himself without posting about it first,’.
Group facilitator Leora Wolf-Prusan said the important thing about the group is that they will talk to each other.
‘We’re gonna stop expecting you to be ‘done’ with your grief in a year,’ she told Jane.
‘We’re gonna stop telling you that we’re tired of hearing the stories of internet harm. Like, we will say your kid’s name over and over again, because they existed, and they mattered. And that we know that it wasn’t your fault. That’s it, right? It wasn’t your fault. This happened to you. And now we as a community get to create something with you.’
Taj and Selene Swanson-Jensen also joined Harry and Meghan in the interview. Their son, Tanner, died from an overdose of drugs were pushed to him online.
Also in the interview was Brandy and Toney Roberts, whose daughter, Englyn, died by suicide following online bullying.
Perla Mendoza, also spoke to Harry and Meghan. His son Eli, died when a painkiller he bought online was actually a lethal dose of fentanyl.
Members of The Parents’ Network are pictured meeting in person for the launch of the new initiative
When asked by Jane why they ‘do all this’ Taj said: ‘Simple answer: So others don’t have to live what we’ve lived, and will continue to live.’
Perla said, ‘I don’t expect anything from anyone. This is just a labour of love in honour of my son and all the other children that have lost their lives to fentanyl.
‘This is for the mother who cannot get out of bed, for the dad that won’t leave his house. I stand here for them, too. And I hope that one day, when it’s my turn to go home, I’ll see my son, and he’ll tell me, “Good job, Mama.”’
Harry and Meghan have raised the issue numerous times since their move to America, and are also due to focus the spotlight on the topic during their official visit to Colombia following an invitation by vice president Francia Marquez.
The Sussexes’ trip to the South American nation will be their second official tour of the year after they visited Nigeria in May, taking part in a range of activities over three days.
While details of the couple’s itinerary have not been released by the Archewell Foundation, the vice president said they would ‘engage in several activities’ related to safeguarding young people online and in physical spaces.
For confidential support in the UK, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit www.samaritans.org for details; In the US call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255)
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