Harry and Meghan facing the toughest challenge yet as they share parenting fears

16 October 2023 , 14:41

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Harry and Meghan facing the toughest challenge yet as they share parenting fears

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have opened up about the toughest challenge they're yet to face.

During their return to New York after a near-catastrophic car chase, the Duchess of Sussex looked like she was close to tears as she told the audience how "frightened" she is about the potential consequences of Prince Archie, four and Princess Lilibet, two, using social media as they grow up.

Sat next to her husband at the Archewell Foundation Parents’ Summit: Mental Wellness In A Digital Age, she said: “I feel fortunate that our children are at an age, quite young, so this isn’t in our immediate future, but I also feel frightened at how social media is continuing to change and this will be in front of us."

Meghan told those gathered at Hudson Yards: “At that time, it was impossible to not be in tears, as I’m sure some of you have been today hearing those stories. You can hear those stories again and again and it’s still going to have the same emotional impact because it’s just that devastating.

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Meghan and Harry opened up about their parenting fears (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

“Social media is not going away and look, I think by design, there is an entry point that’s supposed to be positive and create a community, and something has devolved. There’s no way to hear that and not try to help these families have their stories be heard.”

Previously, the couple were told they were "storing trouble" for their children and that they can "never fully escape" the Royal Family and their children will "forever be associated" with their royal roots, no matter how far away the family moves, according to Tom Quinn, author of Gilded Youth: An Intimate History of Growing Up in the Royal Family.

Speaking from the perspectives of the young royals and their possible reaction to their parent's departure from their duties, Tom said: "They [Archie and Lilibet] may look across the Atlantic and think, 'why have our parents done this to us? It would have been much better if we'd been in England.'

The pair returned to New York (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

They were told they were storing trouble for their kids (alexilubomirski/Instagram)

"A lot of trouble is being stored up by Harry and Meghan because of what they've done. However, Archie and Lilibet will forever be associated with the Royal Family, even if an ocean separates them," the royal author told the Express.

"Harry tried to escape and is trying to make sure his children escape. But you can never fully escape. It's just too difficult. I can imagine Lilibet and Archie are going to get teased at school, possibly bullied, because people say, 'Oh, you're a prince and princess.'"

Lauren Gordon