Meghan Markle Spoke Candidly About Her ‘Worries’ Raising Lili and Archie

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry spent World Mental Health Day in New York City, first visiting The Marcy Lab School, a college alternative in Brooklyn. They later took center stage at their most high-profile event of the day, the Archewell Foundation Parents’ Summit: Mental Wellness in a Digital Age, where they participated in a moderated discussion.

Meghan was dressed elegantly in a white off-the-shoulder top and slacks from Altuzarra with Aquazzura heels and Sarah Hendler earrings. Harry wore a black suit alongside her.

During the talk, Meghan notably discussed her and Harry’s concerns for their own children, 4-year-old Archie and 2-year-old Lili.

“Being a mom is the most important thing in my entire life… outside of course, being a wife to this one,” she said, looking over at Harry with a smile, per Hello!. “But I will say I feel fortunate that our children are at an age, again quite young, so this isn’t in our immediate future, but I also feel frightened by how it’s continuing to change, and this will be in front of us. They say being a parent, the days are long, but the years are short. So it worries me, but I’m also given a lot of hope and a lot of energy by the progress we’ve made in the past year.”

Meghan also touched on the greater purpose of the event in her and Harry’s opening remarks. “As parents, our kids are really young—they’re two-and-a-half and four-and-a-half—but social media is not going away. I think by design, there is an entry point that is supposed to be positive, in creating community and something has devolved, and there is no way to hear that and not try to help these families [who lost a child in part due to the child’s social media use] have their stories be heard.”

Senior News and Strategy Editor

Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.