Meghan Markle says social media users are like ‘drug addicts’ despite once having nearly two million followers herself
Meghan Markle has criticised social media users at an online summit while critics have pointed out the former royal was once a fame-hungry Instagrammer herself.
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The comments came as the Duchess of Sussex, 39, joined Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Next Gen Virtual Summit.
Despite spending many years running a personal Instagram account and a lifestyle blog called The Tig, Markle said she avoids using social media for her “preservation.”
“I have made a personal choice not to have any account so I don’t know what’s out there and in many ways that’s helpful for me,” the former royal said at the invite-only summit on Tuesday, local time.
Prior to closing her Instagram account in 2018, Markle had attracted more than 1.9 million followers.
She also used Twitter and Facebook, and she and Prince Harry had an official Sussex Royal account, which was shut down after they left the royal family and moved to North America.
“I do have concerns for people who have become obsessed with it and it has become a part of our daily culture for so many people, it’s an addiction like many others. There is something, algorithmically, is creating this obsession and I think that’s very unhealthy for a lot of people,” Markle told interviewer Emma Hinchliffe and the audience via Zoom.
Markle also referred to the Royal Family as ‘the institution’ and said that she was doing everything for her son Archie, to “make [the world] a better place for him.”
Markle’s participation in the exclusive event has drawn criticism after it was revealed tickets to the two-day-long virtual summit hosted by Fortune cost $A2440 and were accessible by invitation only.
According to Fortune, Markle was booked to appear for 15 minutes to discuss “how she’s learned to, in her words, chase her convictions with action.”
Chelsea Clinton, Diane von Furstenberg and Yara Shahidi are also set to make appearances at the two-day-long summit.
Markle, whose previous speaking engagements could be accessed for free, is now facing online criticism over the exslusivity of the event.
“What action? Photo ops? Merchandising? What values? 14 bathrooms for 3 people, a nanny, and a housekeeper?” one Twitter user asked.
“How does she lead on a global scale? What does that even mean….. and $1750 [US]”, another agreed.
The news comes days after a royal author claimed Meghan Markle told her royal PR team that she wanted to be the best-known celebrity in the world before Megxit rocked the royal family.
Lady Colin Campbell also said Prince Harry had been helping his wife pursue commercial and political activities even before they quit the The Firm.
Campbell, who wrote Meghan and Harry: The Real Story, told BBC Radio 2 on Saturday: “I started writing that book because last year I knew privately that Meghan – with Harry’s connivance was getting up to all sorts of things in America that she was completely forbidden from doing as a royal.
“Getting involved with commercial enterprises, flying kites in terms of politics, because she ‘s very political, and also instructing her PR people that they were to make her into the most famous person on earth.
“To be the most famous person on earth, it’s a very deliberate policy and it has to involve a tremendous amount of controversy, otherwise you’re just not that famous.”
MEGHAN: ‘I WAS THE MOST TROLLED PERSON IN THE WORLD’
Meghan Markle has revealed that in 2019 she was the “most trolled person in the entire world” in a podcast in which she spoke about the “almost unsurvivable” online abuse she has copped since marrying Prince Harry.
“I’m told that in 2019, I was the most trolled person in the entire world, male or female,” Markle said during a podcast with three high school students.
“Now, eight months of that, I wasn’t even visible. I was on maternity leave with the baby. But was able to just be manufactured and just churned out — it’s almost unsurvivable.”
Meghan made the comments when she and Prince Harry joined three Californian high school students during an episode of their podcast, Teenager Therapy, and discussed topics including mental health stigma, self-care and online abuse.
Meghan said the coronavirus pandemic, which has closed schools around the world, has meant more time online for many.
“Yes, it’s a great way to connect, but it also ends up being a place where there’s a lot of disconnection, you know, I can speak personally to,” she told hosts Gael, Kayla, and Thomas.
“If people are saying things about you that aren’t true, what that does to your mental and emotional health is so damaging.”
Meghan said that false rumours can be harmful to a person’s mental and emotional health.
She said: “We all know what it feels like to have our feelings hurt … to be isolated or othered.”
Prince Harry said that it can be challenging for him and his wife to remain optimistic in the spotlight.
“There are good days, there are bad days, but I think putting your self-care as a priority is hugely important,” he explained.
“Vulnerability is not a weakness, showing vulnerability in today’s world especially, is a strength.”
Prince Harry spoke about the fact that many people hide behind user names on virtual spaces to project or say things they would not say in person.
“I think many, many people are hurting, a lot, and are freaking out because of the way the world is and because of, sometimes, the echo chamber that has been created for them by the online platform that they’ve chosen to be on.
“But also it comes down to control as well. You can control what you see, you can control what you do, so whether it’s notifications or whether it’s vibration ringtones, whatever it is, these things control you, rather than taking control.”
Meghan also took an opportunity to addressa bombshell interview she gave as part of a British documentary when she shocked audiences by saying that “not many people have asked if I’m OK.”
"Not many people have asked if I’m ok ... it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes."
— ITV News (@itvnews) October 18, 2019
Meghan reveals to ITV's @tombradby the intense media spotlight has left her struggling to cope while becoming a mum #HarryAndMeghan https://t.co/Uy21iE6ozJ pic.twitter.com/kZqhZV66OL
At the time, Meghan and Prince Harry’s son was five months old, and the family had were just wrapping up an African tour.
“I didn’t think about that answer, I just answered honestly,” Meghan said while she acknowledged how worn out she was as a new mother and wife.
“Because I was in a moment of vulnerability, because I was tired, because there was no presentation, it was just, here’s where I am.”
The royal couple stressed to the teenagers that it is not a bad thing to ask for help if needed, especially in regard to mental and emotional health.
“In those moments, you have two options. You can either try to break through or you can potentially break down,” Markle explained. “But use it as a moment to break through.”
HARRY, MEGHAN OPEN UP ON ARCHIE’S ‘FIRST STEPS’
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry revealed they felt “fortunate” to have witnessed their son Archie’s first steps as they spoke to activist Malala Yousafzai in an online chat, to celebrate International Day of the Girl.
The Duchess of Sussex, 39, told Yousafzai they had been having “a lot of good family time” during the pandemic, with Prince Harry adding: “We were both there for Archie’s first steps, his first run, his first fall, everything.”
“It’s just fantastic and in so many ways we are fortunate to have this time to watch him grow. In the absence of COVID, we would be travelling and working more externally and we’d have missed a lot of those moments,” Markle added.
“These are really special moments, but we have been working really, really hard.”
Markle also added that the couple were raising their eighteen-month-old son “in a way where everything about his nourishment is about educational substance and how you can learn and how you can grow”.
The couple spoke to the Nobel laureate about the importance of a girl’s right to a fair education with how the global coronavirus pandemic has affected young women’s access to education.
Yousafzai, 23, graduated from Oxford University after she survived being shot in the head by a Taliban gunman at the age of 15 when she made global headlines for campaigning for girls to be educated in Pakistan.
Markle spoke about her own education saying she had the ability to go to school at a young age before going to university.
Prince Harry, 36, said he had taken his education “for granted”.
“It is a privilege but every single person, every single young person across the world needs an education,” he said.
“I’m hugely grateful for the education I was lucky enough to have.
“At the time, I certainly, probably wasn’t as grateful, but looking back on it now, I’m very, very blessed with having such an amazing opportunity.
“To know there are 113 million girls out of education, the numbers only going to go up. It worries me and probably worried all of us, the effect of that (a lack of education for women) has not only on the family but also on society as well.”
Markle added: “Having the privilege to be able to go to school is something that oftentimes is taken from granted.
“It’s very difficult for a lot of people to recognise that just the ability to have a schoolbook is a luxury for so many people.”
Yousafzai responded by saying “I think it takes boys slightly longer to understand how important education is but they get there in the end.
“You’re blessed you have such a great companion Meghan.”
HOMECOMING HARRY FACES ‘TELLING OFF’ BY QUEEN
Meanwhile, Prince Harry could face a “telling off” by the Queen after his public comments on the upcoming US election caused controversy, reportedly angering senior members of the royal family.
It comes as royal staff have reportedly been told to ready Prince Harry’s one-time home, Frogmore Cottage, for his arrival back to the UK but there has been no mention of whether Meghan Markle and son, Archie, will join him.
The Queen returned to work at Windsor this week where she will resume audiences and small engagements and could speak face-to-face with her grandson in the castle grounds.
“Staff at Windsor have been told to prepare for the possibility Harry could come back,” a source reportedly told The Sun.
“They are told that it could be within weeks but Meghan’s name was not mentioned.
“There are all sorts of issues to speak about — not only his political statements but also his visa situation in the US.
“Even though he would have to isolate for two weeks, the estate is large enough for talks in a socially distanced way.”
But his alleged visit comes after royal experts said that Prince Harry had “burnt significant bridges beyond repair” after he spoke out about the US election, which will be fought between Donald Trump and Joe Biden on November 3.
Buckingham Palace insiders allegedly warned Prince Harry he was “stepping over the line” when he spoke out about the election.
Prince Harry, who has netted a $200 million Netflix deal with Meghan, has been in the US for more than 183 days, meaning he could be liable to pay tax there.
The couple are reportedly “not bothered” by their decision to leave the royal family and move to the US, royal expert Penny Junor said.
Ms Junor said that while Prince Harry may improve his relationship with his brother Prince William – it’s unlikely Meghan will ever want to return to the institution.
“In the past few months, Harry and Meghan have burnt some significant bridges that may be beyond repair,” Ms Junor said in a column for a British newspaper
“Right now, that doesn’t seem to bother them. And I can’t see Meghan ever wanting a way back. What she discovered in her brief spell as a working member, is the British royal family is no place for someone with political ambition.
“This centuries-old institution provides an unparalleled platform for charitable work – to change and improve people’s lives – but it is not the springboard for changing the world – however burning and evident the need.”
Meanwhile, Prince Harry’s return to his home country comes after he and Meghan recently paid a “substantial sum” in order to pay rent and clear the bill for $4.3 million taxpayer-funded renovations carried out on the couple’s UK home.
Meanwhile, Meghan and Harry led a group of nervous teens in deep breathing exercises during a podcast recording, it’s been claimed.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined the Teenager Therapy podcast to mark World Mental Health Day – with the episode released on Saturday (local time).
Hello! magazine reported the couple were interviewed by three of the five hosts in person in their new hometown of Santa Barbara while wearing face masks.
OUR EPISODE WITH HARRY AND MEGHAN IS OUT!#WorldMentalHealthDay https://t.co/2htdQm0plahttps://t.co/fzDU5yAaO7 pic.twitter.com/baM5Ma91Gg
— Teenager Therapy (@TeenagerTherapy) October 10, 2020
The report claimed the pair “led the crew in deep breaths a few times during the conversation to help calm everyone’s nerves.”
And it appears the episode recording did well, with one of the hosts Gael calling Prince Harry “Big H”.
The nickname is similar to the moniker Meghan, 39, has given her husband, with the former actor previously revealing she called the royal “H”.
It has been reported the couple first found out about the podcast – which describes as “Five stressed, sleep-deprived, yet energetic teens sit down and talk about the struggles that come with being a teenager” – after reading a New York Times profile piece in July.
The podcast is just the first in a string of engagements the couple have lined up.
On Sunday, they are expected to join Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai to discuss the coronavirus’ devastating impact on girls.
The virtual chat will see the couple “celebrate girls and the power of their voices”.
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Originally published as Meghan Markle says social media users are like ‘drug addicts’ despite once having nearly two million followers herself