Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been urged to implement boundaries to help safeguard Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet’s mental health in the future.
The Sussexes appeared at an Archewell Foundation summit for World Mental Health Day in New York last week, as they spoke with parents on how to preserve their children’s wellbeing in a digital age.
Speaking to OK! magazine, leading transformation coach Noor Hibbert explained: “The relentless scrutiny and constant presence of social media poses distinct challenges to Meghan and Harry’s parenting.
“It intensifies feelings of vulnerability and stress, meaning that balancing a private family life in the public eye is a demanding task. Meghan and Harry desperately want to protect their children’s mental health, so there will need to be some boundaries put in place for Archie and Lilibet’s social media use in the future.”
Parenting expert Amanda Jenner agreed, however she highlighted how Harry and Meghan’s very different upbringings could influence how they may want to parent in conflicting ways.
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Her advice to the Duke is to let Meghan take the lead, as his mental health issues following the death of his mother could cloud his judgement.
She said: “They’re still royals and they’re never going to be like us, but it’s really important for the children’s mental health that they have as normal a life as they possibly can and which their parents both agree on.
“Harry needs to understand that he’s faced mental health battles because of his mum’s death and his upbringing. If he starts to make Archie and Lilibet follow in his footsteps, they’ll have the same issues.
“He needs to understand that children feel everything you feel as a parent. He has to be very careful and sometimes think ‘Right, OK, I’m gonna go with Meghan on this one’. It will take time for him to have the confidence to let his children do more, but he will get there once he sees they’ve taken that few steps forward.”
This comes as Meghan candidly spoke about her worries for Archie and Lilibet onstage at the Archewell Foundation Parents’ Summit: Mental Wellness In A Digital Age last week.
She told the assembled crowd: “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.”
At Hudson Yards she said: “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.
“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.”
The summit for World Mental Health Day was the first in-person event for Archewell, while in Birmingham Prince William and Princess Kate hosted their own forum for young people in conjunction with BBC Radio 1 and The Mix.
