Meghan Markle reveals ‘the most important thing’ in her life

 Meghan Markle  and  Prince Harry  marked World Mental Health Day at Archewell Foundation’s first in-person event on Tuesday. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex participated in a conversation, moderated by TODAY’s Carson Daly, at “The Archewell Foundation Parents’ Summit: Mental Wellness in a Digital Age.”

During the event, Meghan, who shares son Prince Archie, four, and daughter Princess Lilibet, two, with Prince Harry, said, “Being a mom is the most important thing in my entire life.” Looking at her husband, the Duchess added, “Outside, of course, being a wife to this one.”

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The summit on Oct. 10, which was part of Project Healthy Minds’ second annual World Mental Health Day Festival, brought together parents who have experienced loss, connected to their child’s social media use. Asked by Carson where social media is on her priority list as it pertains to her kids, Meghan admitted, “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.”

“They say being a parent, the days are long but the years are short, 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, being able to have these incredible parents, these survivors of this experience to share their stories. It allows us to continue to learn and the more information we have, the more information gathering we’re able to do, the more we can have these high level conversations and try to move the needle a little bit,” Meghan continued.

The Duchess pointed out that “everyone now is affected by the online world and social media. Some more than others. But we all just want to feel safe. You want to feel community. You want to feel connected, especially post the pandemic. But you want to feel safe.”

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Over across the pond, Harry’s brother and sister-in-law, the  Prince  and  Princess of Wales , also marked World Mental Health Day. The royal couple, along with The Royal Foundation, hosted a forum for young people at Factory Works in Birmingham.

At the event, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis’ mother delivered a speech, saying, “Positive mental health is shaped by our ability to understand and manage ourselves as individuals, and to connect with others through our relationships, friendships, families and communities. We are living in a world however, that is changing so fast, where social media and concerns about the threat of conflict, pandemics, climate change or the cost of living, can impact our emotional wellbeing and future hopes dramatically. On top of this, as young people, this can also be a time in your lives, when you perhaps feel the vulnerability of growing independence and self-consciousness. But, by gaining deeper insight into ourselves, we’ll be better equipped, to handle the external challenges we all encounter.”

Catherine noted that she and William believe “we need to do all we can as a society to help young people develop the emotional and social life skills they need for good mental health, and to thrive in the world around them. Both learning about the world and learning about how to be happy and thrive within it, should go hand-in-hand. So, if we talk about mental health with this in mind, it need not have so many negative connotations. We can choose to see our emotional worlds and mental wellbeing in a different light, we can normalise it and recognise it as something we all have, and require, as human beings.”