Meghan and Prince step back from children's harm prevention project

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle appear to have stepped back from a major project aimed at tackling harm caused to children online.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex launched the Parents' Network in August 2024 in association with their Archewell Foundation charity.

It aims to support parents who have lost their children to suicide because of online harm, and the couple have been vocal about the dangers that social media poses.

But it seems the Parents' Network has now effectively been transferred from the Archewell Foundation, now known as Archewell Philanthropies, to ParentsTogether.

The non-profit organisation also provides resources to parents worried about the impact of the digital world on youngsters.

Prince Harry, 41, and Ms Markle, 44, announced the 'strategic partnership' between the Parents' Network and ParentsTogether in October at an event in New York to mark World Mental Health Day.

'Expanding the parents' movement and supporting them throughout is how real change happens,' the Duke of Sussex said at the time.

'That's why we are so proud to announce tonight that The Parents' Network is joining forces with ParentsTogether.'

Archewell is said to have given ParentsTogether the full operational capacity of the initiative as well as a cash grant to cover the first year of core operations.

'This follows our established model where we incubate initiatives before transitioning them to independent, sustainable organisations - much like Invictus, Travalyst and others,' an Archewell source said.

'ParentsTogether has built trusted relationships with many of these families over years, and their expertise makes them the ideal permanent home for The Parents Network.

'We couldn't be more excited to see these families supported and amplified in such capable hands.'

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who share Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four, first launched the Parents' Network in August 2024 and provided a rare TV interview with an American broadcaster.

They said they want to 'be a part of change for good' when it comes to the 'online space'.

'All you want to do as parents is protect them,' Ms Markle told CBS.

'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.'

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Prince Harry added: 'At this point, we've got to the stage where almost every parent needs to be a first responder.

'And even the best first responders in the world wouldn't be able to tell the signs of possible suicide. Like, that is the terrifying piece of this.'

Last year he told the BBC that the couple wanted to 'make sure that things are changed so that... no more kids are lost to social media.'

He said: 'Life is better off social media. The easiest thing to say is to keep your kids away from social media. The sad reality is the kids who aren't on social media normally get bullied at school because they can't be part of the same conversation as everybody else.

'We're just grateful that our kids are too young to be on social media at this point.'

As well as those who have lost children, The Parents' Network aims to support those whose children are struggling with 'present-day issues of cyberbullying, depression and anxiety, sexual exploitation, eating disorders, and a range of other traumas related to social media use'.