The Library Media — National & World · World Desk
Harry and Meghan Open Online-Harm Memorial at European Parliament
By Maya Wilson
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Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, visited the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday, November 10, to inaugurate a memorial honoring children whose deaths their families connect to online harm.
According to the couple’s office, the pair joined Parliament President Roberta Metsola and MEP Antonio López-Istúriz White to open Archewell Philanthropies’ Lost Screen Memorial inside the Parliament building. The installation consists of 50 smartphone-shaped screens, each dedicated to a child. It first opened in 2025 and is now at its fourth location, the office said.
Harry delivered an address arguing that children’s safety should be treated as a design requirement for technology companies, rather than a responsibility placed on families. His office published the following passage from his remarks: “We cannot keep blaming children or their parents for responding to systems deliberately designed to hold their attention. That isn’t simply a failure of self-control. It’s a failure of design.”
The couple’s office said Harry also joined a panel hosted by the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Children’s Rights. The visit took place as Members of the European Parliament debate the proposed EU Kids Act, according to the office.
Meghan attended the event with Harry but did not deliver the joint keynote the couple had been expected to give. Sky News and The Times reported that she withdrew from speaking the day before, leaving Harry to address the gathering alone. Neither report established a reason for her withdrawal.
The BBC described the Brussels appearance as Meghan’s first public appearance since the arrest of her father, Thomas Markle. The BBC and The Times reported that U.S. federal agents arrested Markle in Florida and that U.S. prosecutors charged him in connection with possession of child sexual abuse material. No further details about the case or any connection between it and Meghan’s decision not to speak were established in the supplied reporting.
The memorial’s return to public view at the Parliament places the installation alongside an ongoing debate over proposed European rules on children’s online safety. The couple’s office described the visit as part of its work on the issue.
— Maya Wilson, World Desk
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