Emily Andrews
Prince Harry might no longer be a working royal, but his commitment to affecting change hasn’t wavered one bit and he and Meghan have set their sights on raising awareness of the impacts of social media. Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet are too young to use the likes of Instagram or X yet, though their parents’ devotion to promoting online safety is something that speaks volumes to Royal Correspondent, Emily Andrews.
Writing in Woman's Royal Insider column this month, the expert said that this is "exactly the type of activism" she wants to see from the Sussexes. Last month, Prince Harry made an appearance at the Nexus Global Summit and didn’t hold back as he was interviewed on stage.
"We started to meet a lot of parents who had lost their kids to social media," he shared. "That’s when it really started to make sense to us."
Taking on the world’s major tech giants is no easy feat for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell Foundation, though it’s an incredibly important mission. In April 2025, Prince Harry and Meghan unveiled The Lost Screen Memorial.
As revealed by Archewell, this memorial is for those children who have lost their lives as a result of the harm they suffered on social media. The images "represent the ones their parents have on their phone lockscreens" and serve as a "constant reminder of what has been lost".
"The responsibility to keep children safe online should not lie with parents alone," the Foundation adds and Meghan echoed this at the unveiling when she declared to People, "No matter how polarized the world is, or what people may or may not agree on, one thing that we can all agree on is that our children should be safe."
Emily Andrews "could not agree with Harry and Meghan more" on this.
"As the mum of two kids, one of whom is about to go to senior school, the subject of how much they use the internet, what they look at and whether they can have a mobile phone is a constant source of moaning in our house," she reflected. "It’s become the norm to give children their own smartphone by the age of 11 - many have them even younger - often without any guard rails or parental restrictions on what they look at online."
Emily added that although children have to be 13 to sign up to most social media platforms, kids do lie about their age, and "it seems that tech companies do not have robust enough checks to catch" all of them out.
She said, "It’s great that Harry and Meghan are bringing so much attention to this issue. Their cohort of parents have found each other through the most unimaginable tragedy and it’s clear that countries such as the UK or America need to bring in more stringent regulation.
"There are similar movements here in the UK, such as the grassroot parent-led movement Smartphone Free Childhood, which recommends not giving a smartphone to our kids until 14, and no social media until 16."
"Like Harry said, ‘As the world gets harder, as people’s lives become harder, compassion can shrink. The thing that gives me the most hope is the grassroots approach’. Bravo Harry - this is exactly the type of activism you should be doing," she declared.
Back in 2023, Prince Harry and Meghan took to another stage together at The Archewell Foundation Parents’ Summit: Mental Wellness in the Digital Age and expressed concern - and hope - over what future lies ahead for Archie and Lilibet.
"I feel fortunate that our children are at an age, again quite young, so this isn't in our immediate future, but I also feel frightened by how it's continuing to change and this will be in front of us," she admitted. "So it worries me, but I'm also given a lot of hope and a lot of energy by the progress we've made in the past year."
Emily Andrews’ Royal Insider column appears in each issue of Woman magazine. Subscribe now and get your first 6 issues for £1.
