The Duchess of Sussex used a mental health engagement in Melbourne on Thursday to deliver her most personal account yet of a decade of online abuse, telling young Australians she had been bullied every single day since entering public life.
Speaking at Swinburne University of Technology on Thursday, April 16, during the third day of the Sussexes’ four-day Australia tour, Meghan, 44, addressed students gathered for a session with youth mental health organisation Batyr. She told them she had been subjected to relentless online attacks and described herself as the most trolled person on the planet.
Meghan told the young people that social media had led to widespread loneliness, adding that the platforms were “a billion-dollar industry that is completely anchored and predicated on cruelty to get clicks.” She said that industry had no incentive to change its behaviour.
The ten-year period Meghan referenced traces back to late October 2016, when her relationship with Prince Harry was first publicly confirmed. The couple married in 2018 and stepped back from senior royal duties in 2020.
Prince Harry also spoke candidly at a separate event during the same day. He described the moment he finally sought therapy, saying he had waited until he found himself in the foetal position on his kitchen floor before he accepted he needed help.
Harry, who lost his mother Princess Diana when he was 12, spoke about feeling lost, betrayed and powerless during his life, and described the difficulty of showing up in public while masking deep internal pain.
During the Batyr discussion, Harry also praised Australia’s legislation banning children under 16 from social media, calling the move significant from a leadership standpoint and noting that Australia was the first country in the world to introduce such a ban.
