Meghan Markle Shared Trauma to Help Others: ‘I’ll Take a Hit for That'

On Sunday, August 4, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry spoke in a new interview with Jane Pauley on CBS Sunday Morning to discuss an initiative called The Parents Network. After two years of a pilot program, their Archewell Foundation will be launching “No Child Lost to Social Media,” which supports parents in the U.S., U.K. and Canada who have children negatively impacted by social media use and online bullying or harassment.

The Parents Network was in part inspired by the Duke and Duchess’s own challenges with the media. In particular, Pauley asked about Meghan’s admission during her 2021 interview with Oprah that at a certain point she was experiencing suicidal ideation and thoughts of self harm. The Duchess told Pauley that there was absolutely a connection between her experience and the families they are trying to reach.

“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,” she explained. “I 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 sort of plans and I would never want someone else to not be believed.”

Meghan continued, “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 is okay, then that’s worth it. I’ll take a hit for that.”

Both Meghan and Harry are also motivated by their own children, Archie and Lilibet.

“Our kids are young, they’re 3 and 5. They’re amazing,” Meghan told Pauley. “But all you want to do as parents is protect them. 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.”

Harry added that they hope their organization helps parents learn to identify what children struggling with bullying and depression really need.

“At this point, we’ve got to the stage where almost every parent needs to be a first responder,” he shared. “And even the best first responders in the world wouldn’t be able to tell the signs of possible suicide. That is the terrifying piece of this.”

Meghan suggested that people consider to themselves, “What if it was my daughter? What if it was my son? If you look at it through the lens as a parent, there’s no way to see that any other way than to try to find a solution.”

If you or someone you know is at risk, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text HOME to 741741 to message with a trained crisis counselor from the Crisis Text Line for free.

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