Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Unveil NYC Memorial Honoring Children Lost to Social Media Harms
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are using their platform to spotlight a heartbreaking crisis impacting families across the globe.
On April 23, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, alongside their Archewell Foundation, unveiled the Lost Screen Memorial in New York City—a moving installation honoring children who tragically lost their lives due to the harmful effects of social media.
Located at The Perch in midtown Manhattan, the display features 50 smartphones, each showing the lock screen photo of a child whose life was cut short. The images were shared by parents from Archelwee’s Parents’ Network, a community of families united in their mission to push for safer online spaces.
“These children were not sick. Their deaths were not inevitable—they were exposed to, and in many cases were pushed harmful content online,” Prince Harry said in a statement at the event captured by PEOPLE. “To the platforms, they may be seen as statistics. To their families, they were cherished and irreplaceable.”
The couple joined nearly 50 grieving families for a private vigil, offering words of comfort and solidarity. “No matter how polarized the world is… one thing that we can all agree on is that our children should be safe,” Meghan told reporters. “All of our children should be safe.”
The Archewell Foundation noted that despite growing awareness and nearly 40 congressional hearings on online harms since 2017, many tech companies are still scaling back child safety protections.
The Duke and Duchess emphasized that this work is just the beginning. “It is a community that should not need to exist,” Harry said.
