Meghan Markle said she hasn’t “scraped the surface” of her experience of being bullied while opening up about her past suicidal thoughts.
On Sunday, the Duchess of Sussex and her husband, Prince Harry, launched The Parents’ Network to support parents who lost children directly or indirectly to social media.
While speaking about online bullying and its effects on young kids, Markle spoke about how her own experience connected her to these families.
“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 told Jane Pauley on “CBS Sunday Morning.”
“And you know, 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 sort of plans. And I would never want someone else to not be believed,” she added.
“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.”
In a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Markle, 43, revealed she had suicidal ideation while pregnant with son Archie due to the pressure of dealing with life as a royal and her treatment at the hands of the British media.
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“I just didn’t want to be alive anymore,” she said at the time.
The “Suits” alum said she “just didn’t see a solution” to the plethora of negative reports about her.
“I would sit up at night, and I was just like, ‘I don’t understand how all of this is being churned out,’” she shared.
Markle said she was initially scared to tell the Duke of Sussex, 39, about her feelings but once she did, she said he just “cradled” her.
The mom of two also said she reached out to a senior member of the Palace for help at one point but was rejected.
Markle and Harry, who share 5-year-old Prince Archie and 3-year-old Princess Lilibet, are now working to make sure other families don’t go through what they did with The Parents’ Network.
The initiative, launched with the couple’s Archewell Foundation, will “provide crucial support to parents whose children have suffered from the harmful effects of social media, from facing near-fatal harm, managing ongoing mental health difficulties, or experiencing the tragic loss of a child,” according to a press release.
“Our kids are young; they’re 3 and 5. They’re amazing,” Markle told Pauley.
“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.”
