Meghan Markle is no stranger to talking about the online abuse and racism she’s endured from others. But this time, she’s hoping her experiences will promote change.
In honour of World Mental Health Day, Prince Harry and Markle appeared on the Teenager Therapy podcast where Markle shared some candid comments about the online abuse she’s received since entering the royal family.
During her conversation with students from Loara High School in California, Markle and Harry made a guest appearance to talk about mental health and how she has been affected as of late.
“I’m told that in 2019 I was the most trolled person in the entire world—male or female” she admitted. “Now, eight months of that I wasn’t even visible. I was on maternity leave or with a baby but was able to just be manufactured and churned out. It’s almost unsurvivable.”
Markle continued, “That’s so big you can’t even think of what that feels like, because I don’t care if you’re 15 or you’re 25, if people are saying things about you that aren’t true, what that does to your mental and emotional health is so damaging.”
The Duchess of Sussex also explained that bullying happens to everyone to some degree but change can happen as a result of that shared experience.
“We all know what it feels like to have our feelings hurt,” she explained. “We all know what it feels like to be isolated or othered.”
Markle has opened up her own experience with online abuse and bullying before. In August 2020, Meghan discussed representation in the media during a discussion with organisation The 19th.
“If you’re just trying to grab someone’s attention and keep it, you’re going for something salacious instead of something truthful,” Markle explained.
“I think that once we can get back to the place where people are just telling the truth in their reporting and telling it through a compassionate or empathetic lens, it’s going to help bind people as a community in a way that I think at the moment we are feeling so much more of a disconnect in a space where I feel we could be feeling more of a connection.”
