Meghan Markle was the picture of professionalism for her and husband Prince Harry’s Sunday, August 4, sit-down on CBS Sunday Morning.
Meghan, who turned 43 on Sunday, sported a chic, mauve Ralph Lauren button-down blouse with a matching pair of trousers from the brand. The Duchess of Sussex accessorized her look with a delicate gold Cartier choker necklace and baguette diamond leaf studs from Luna Skye.
Meghan and Harry, 39, appeared on the CBS broadcast to highlight their new initiative called The Parents’ Network. The program, launched through the couple’s Archewell Foundation, is designed to support parents whose children have been impacted by social media.
“I think you have to start somewhere,” Meghan said on Sunday. “Look at it through the lens of, ‘What if it was my daughter? What if it was my son? My son or my daughter, who comes home joyful [and] I love, and one day, right under our roofs, our entire lives change because of something completely out of our control.’ If you look at it through the lens of a parent, there is no way to see that any other way than to try and find a solution.”
After a two-year pilot program, The Parents’ Network officially launched on Sunday as a free support network for families in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
“At this point, we’ve got to the stage where almost every parent needs to be a first responder,” Harry told CBS broadcaster Jane Pauley. “Even the best first responders in the world wouldn’t be able to tell the signs of possible suicide. That is the terrifying piece of it.”
The topic of suicide is particularly personal to Meghan, who previously struggled with similar thoughts during her pregnancy with son Prince Archie, now 5. Meghan, who also shares 3-year-old daughter Princess Lilibet with Harry, initially disclosed her mental health battle in a 2021 CBS interview.
“There is a through line, I think. When you’ve been through any level of pain or trauma, I believe part of our healing journey, certainly part of mine, is being able to be really open about it,” Meghan added on Sunday. “I haven’t really scraped the surface on my experience, but I do think I would never want someone else to feel that way and I would never want someone else to be making those sort of plans.”
She explained, “I would never want someone else not to be believed. If me voicing what I have overcome will save someone or encourage someone in their life to really genuinely check in on them and not assume ‘the appearance is good, so everything is OK,’ then that’s worth it. I’ll take a hit for that.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.