Meghan Markle And Prince Harry Are Trying "To Not Miss a Single Moment" with Archie
Prince Harry and Meghan have been busy working behind the scenes in the past few months as well as making several high-profile digital appearances. But the couple has also shared that they have been enjoying plenty of family time as they try not to miss a “single moment” of Archie growing up.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex briefly spoke about their experience during the pandemic in the opening interview of a TIME100 talk which they hosted today. Themed around the topic of ‘Engineering A Better World,’ the couple brought together experts in the fields of the internet, social media, and mental health to discuss how to create a safer digital world.
When asked by Time Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal how they have been doing during the pandemic, Meghan replied: “All things considered everyone is grappling with a different version of the same thing and, for us, we are just trying to embrace all of the quality time we get with our son right now, and to not miss a single moment of his growth and development which has been really special.”
Harry added: “I think when people ask 'how are you?' it’s a case of, really, how are you?Before this year I think everyone throws that term around...in answer to that, we’re good. There’s a lot of stuff to be focused on, a lot of work. But, as Meghan quite rightly said, this is an opportunity to spend more time as a family that we probably would otherwise.”
The couple were then asked how they prioritized what they work on, at which point Meghan described their “unwavering” commitment to causes they care about. “Both of us realized...we can continue to champion these things that we are passionate about, continue to do this work to try to affect change and help people that need it most or the communities or environments that need it most. But it’s almost like you’re taking two steps forward and five steps backwards if you can’t get to the root cause of the problem, which at this point right now we see in a large way as a lot of what’s happening in the tech space,” she said. “So we’ve been on a journey to learn as much as we can, since really January this year.”
The couple announced in January that they would step back from their roles as senior working royals, a decision that came into effect in March, and they now live in Santa Barbara. Since going solo, they have announced they will be setting up a non-profit Archewell, signed with speaking agency Harry Walker, and committed to a multi-year production deal with Netflix.
For their TIME100 talk, they spoke with co-founder of Reddit, Alexis Ohanian; co-founder and president of the Center for Humane Technology Tristan Harris, who featured in documentary The Social Dilemma; Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble, who authored Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism; the hosts of the Teenager Therapy podcast; academic, writer, and lecturer Rachel Cargle; technical research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory Renee DiResta; Filipino journalist and co-funder of Rappler, Maria Ressa; and Naj Austin, founder and CEO of social platform Somewhere Good.
During Meghan’s conversation with Alexis Ohanian, who is married to her friend Serena Williams, they discussed how parts of internet have created communities that have normalized socially toxic behavior and radicalized people via smartphones they can access at any time.
Alexis concluded their discussion by observing: “It is disappointing to know that so much of this perspective I only really got once I married, well, started dating, but then certainly once I married my wife. And once we had our daughter it leveled it up to another place where, yeah, I mean, we’ve talked about this often. I’ve had so many moments in my life where I was given the benefit of the doubt, where I never felt unsafe, where I always felt heard. Where I did not realize until I was in a relationship with someone who has achieved as much as she has and still regularly deals with this in painful, frustrating ways. And as a husband you just get outraged. And then especially now in the role as a father, I just can’t help but want to create a world that is just fair to my daughter. And I know that that’s lofty, but it’s a thing worth striving toward.”
Meghan said: “Thank you for doing the work and leading the way and finding solutions, not just for all of us but for your little girl, our little boy, for all of us.”
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