The Duchess of Sussex has said that for 10 years she was the “most trolled person in the entire world” online.
Speaking in Melbourne about the harms of social media, alongside the Duke of Sussex, Meghan said she was “bullied” every day for a decade and that tech companies were “not incentivised to stop” their platforms being misused.
The couple are in Australia on a four-day tour as non-working royals and used a meeting on Thursday with representatives of a mental health programme to voice their support for the country’s under-16 social media ban.
On the same day, Prince Harry gave a keynote speech at a workplace culture summit, with tickets costing up to A$2,400 (£1,260) per person.
The event that Meghan and Prince Harry took part in was at Melbourne’s Swinburne University of Technology.
During the sit-down chat, Meghan told the group: “When I think of all of you and what you’re experiencing, I think so much of that is having to realise that you know that industry, that billion-dollar industry, that is completely anchored and predicated on cruelty to get clicks – that’s not going to change.
“So you have to be stronger than that.”
Her husband added that he thought Australia’s social media ban for children was “epic” from a “responsibility and leadership standpoint”.
Prince Harry said “so many countries have now followed suit” – but that “it should have never, ever got to a ban”.
Echoing some of his wife’s criticism of tech companies who own the platforms, he said they “have to be accountable, and there’s no way that young people should be punished by being banned from something that should be safe to use, no matter what”.
Speaking later at the InterEdge Summit, also in Melbourne, the prince spoke about a number of things – including the death of his mother, Princess Diana.
“In my experience, loss is disorienting at any age,” he told the event. “Grief does not disappear because we ignore it. Experiencing that as a kid while in a goldfish bowl under constant surveillance, yes, that will have its challenges. And without purpose, it can break you.”
He also said he had felt “lost, betrayed, or completely powerless” at various points in his life.
Prince Harry was not paid a fee for the speech, PA news agency reports.
Locals meet couple on walking tour
Also on the third day of the tour, the couple joined an Aboriginal walking tour called the Scar Tree Walk, an important cultural heritage site experience in the city.
Led by local Indigenous guides, the couple walked along the Birrarung, which is the traditional name for Melbourne’s Yarra river.
The former royals also saw an art installation, and learned how the river and surrounding lands were used for fishing and hunting by traditional owners.
This part of the tour was about the couple being able to see what actually lies under the city, Tom Mosby, CEO of the Koorie Heritage Trust, told the BBC.
Melbourne is a “contemporary urban place” but “at the same time there is still a very strong connection by the Aboriginal people to this traditional country”, he added.
Some local residents and visitors met the couple while they were on the walk.
Sofia Rocha, a Brazilian woman visiting Melbourne for her sister’s wedding, was on a run when she saw Meghan and Prince Harry.
“It was so nice,” she said. “They are the most gorgeous couple.”
Narelle Zagami, a local resident, also met them. “It’s very emotional. I love Harry. They are just beautiful people,” she said.
When asked about the criticism of the couple making money during their trip as private citizens, Zagami said: “They’ve got to make a living as well. It’s part of their life now, this sort of thing, so I think it’s good.”
Prince Harry and Meghan’s last visit to Australia was in 2018, a few months after their marriage.
During that visit, the couple spent around nine days in the country and large crowds gathered to greet them during their public visits.
