The Duchess of Sussex said it is worth voicing how she overcame her experience of suicidal thoughts, at the height of her crisis in the British monarchy, to save lives.
Meghan and Harry appeared in a pre-recorded interview for US programme, CBS Sunday Morning, about a new initiative supporting parents of children affected by online harm.
“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.
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“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.”
It comes three years after the duchess confessed he had contemplated taking her own life, in an interview with told Oprah Winfrey, saying: “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.”
The Duchess of Sussex during her interview with Oprah Winfrey which was broadcast in the US in 2021 (Joe Pugliese/Harpo Productions)
Meghan was surprised by the question relating to her own experience of suicidal thoughts, telling host Jane Pauley: “I wasn’t expecting it, but I understand why you are because there is a through line.”
The televised interview, broadcast on Meghan’s 43rd birthday, highlighted the threat posed to children by the internet.
It marked the launch of the Parents’ Network, in association with the couple’s charitable Archewell Foundation.
The initiative seeks to provide parents with a safe and free-to-access support network to help those whose children have been harmed by social media.
Meghan said about her eldest child, Archie, and daughter, Lilibet: “Our kids are young, they are three and five, they’re amazing, but all you want to do as parents is protect them.
“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.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Yaroslav Sabitov/PA)
In a reference to how the mental wellbeing of young people can be affected by experiences online, Harry said: “At this point we’ve got to the stage where almost every parent needs to be a first responder, 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.”
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.