24-04-2025
Prince Harry and Meghan Unveil NYC Memorial Honoring Children Lost to Social Media Harms
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle unveiled a temporary memorial in New York City on Wednesday, honoring children lost to social media-related harms.
Established by the couple's Archewell Foundation, 'The Lost Screen' memorial features 50 illuminated smartphones, each displaying the lock screen photo of a child whose life was cut short because of social media. The images were shared by parents in the Archewell Foundation Parents' Network, many of whom came to New York to lay flowers at the display. The project calls for stronger online safeguards to better protect children.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined a group of approximately 50 affected families at the memorial for a private vigil on April 23. The memorial, located at the The Perch in midtown Manhattan, will be open for 24 hours.
'Life is better off of social media," Prince Harry said at the unveiling on Wednesday afternoon, according to People. "I say that as a parent, and I say that as someone who's spoken to many of the kids here tonight who lost a brother or a sister to social media. But clearly, enough is not enough. Enough is not being done.'
After piloting the initiative in 2023, Prince Harry and Meghan launched the Parents' Network in August 2024 for parents in the U.S, the U.K, and Canada. "Our kids are young. They're three and five. They're amazing," Meghan told CBS News last year. "But all you want to do as parents is protect them. And so, as we can see what's happening in the online space, we know that there's a lot of work to be done there, and we're just happy to be able to be a part of change for good."
Prince Harry spoke further about the Parents' Network in a speech at the Clinton Global Initiative in September 2024. 'Through trauma-informed practices, our Network helps parents come together to forge strong bonds, offering healing support through community,' the Duke of Sussex said at the time. 'This safe and free-to-access peer-support not only offers invaluable resources and advice, it is guided by a licensed facilitator, ensuring that no one has to navigate this journey alone. Our platform provides opportunity for parents to turn their pain into purpose, ultimately changing the very system that stole their child.'
A virtual edition of the memorial will also be available online, featuring each child's story, with some parents contributing personal voice messages for visitors to hear.
Prince Harry and Meghan arrived in New York earlier in the week to attend the 2025 Time100 Summit at Lincoln Center, where Meghan appeared for an on-stage interview with Time CEO Jessica Sibley.
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