Harry and Meghan discuss ‘protecting’ children from harm online

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have discussed the online threats children face in their first official interview since their chat with Oprah Winfrey three years ago.

Speaking on CBS News Sunday Morning, the couple drew back on their experience as parents, saying all they wanted to do was “protect” their son Archie and daughter Lilibet.

Prince Harry added that “one of the scariest things” was knowing that any parent could lose a child to suicide as a result of exposure to harmful content.

The pair recently launched a new program called The Parents Network, which aims to support parents and carers affected by the issue.

In their interview with Oprah, Prince Harry and Meghan covered topics from racism to life in the royal family.

This interview focused solely on their ambitions to tackle online harm.

“Our children are young, they’re three and five, they’re amazing, but all you want to do as a parent is protect them,” Meghan said.

“And so we can see what’s happening in the online space, we know there’s a lot of work to be done there and we’re just happy to be part of the change for the better.”

Prince Harry said that in the “old days” parents always knew what their children were doing, as long as they were at home.

“At least they were safe, right?” he said.

“And now, they can be in the next room on a tablet or on a phone, and they can go down these rabbit holes. And before you know it, within 24 hours, they can take their own life.”

Alongside the sit-down interview, the videos showed the couple meeting bereaved parents near Santa Barbara, most of whom had lost a child to harmful social media content or online harassment.

Prince Harry said it has reached a point where almost every parent has to be “a first responder”.

“And even the best first responders in the world wouldn’t be able to tell the signs of a possible suicide,” he said.

“That’s the scary part about it.”

Prince Harry, whose mother Diana, Princess of Wales, died when he was 12, has been open about the impact grief had – and continues to have – on his mental health.

In her interview with Oprah, Meghan also spoke about her struggles with poor mental health.

She said there was “a line” that connected her experience to those families who had lost a child.

“When you’ve been through any level of pain or trauma, I believe that part of our healing journey — certainly part of mine — is to be able to be really open to it,” she said.

Meghan said she hadn’t “scratched the surface” of her experience, but she never wanted anyone else to feel the way she did.

She said: “If me expressing what I’ve overcome will save someone or encourage someone in their life to really check it out and not assume that looks are good so everything’s OK, then it’s worth it. I’ll take a hit for that.”

The couple is expected to highlight the importance of protecting young people online during their official visit to Colombia later this month. The trip follows their visit to Nigeria in May.

Speaking about their new initiative, The Parents Network, Meghan said it was important to “start somewhere”.

She urged people watching the interview to look at it through the lens that it was their child who was affected.

What if it was my daughter, what if it was my son,” she said. “My son or daughter coming home, who are happy, who I love, and one day, right under my roof, our whole life changes because of something that was completely out of our control.

“And if you look at it through the lens of being a parent, there’s no way to look at this any other way than to try to find a solution.”

The Sussex family moved to California in June 2020 with their son Archie. Their daughter Lilibet was born there in 2021.

The couple did not mention any other members of the royal family in their CBS interview.

They are not expected to visit Prince Harry’s father, King Charles III, in Scotland during his summer holiday.

Last week, the Duke of Sussex said His decision to fight back against intrusions from the tabloid press was a “center piece” after his relationship with the rest of his family broke down.