Meghan Markle Reveals the Deep Scars of Being 'Bullied and Attacked' Every Day for 10 Years During Australia Tour Stop

Meghan Markle told students at a Melbourne university that she was 'bullied and attacked' on social media every day for 10 years, describing herself as 'the most trolled person in the entire world' during a stop on her Australia tour on Thursday.

The Duchess of Sussex has made online abuse and its impact on mental health central to her public work with Prince Harry in recent years. The couple, who stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and have since recast themselves as campaigners on digital safety, have repeatedly warned that social media platforms can reward outrage and cruelty, particularly towards young people and women in public life.

Markle made the latest comments during a candid group discussion at Swinburne University of Technology with young advocates linked to Batyr, a mental health organisation working with students. Sitting in a classroom rather than on a stage, she told them that accounts of online pile-ons and harassment felt uncomfortably familiar.

'And I can speak to that really personally, which is why I like to listen, because it rings true for me in a very real way,' she said, according to attendees. 'For now, 10 years, every day for 10 years, I have been bullied and attacked. And I was the most trolled person in the entire world.'

She did not provide figures or dates to support the claim, and social media platforms have not confirmed any such ranking, meaning the remarks should be treated as her personal characterisation rather than a verified metric. The discussion appeared aimed at grounding the digital debate in lived experience rather than slogans.

The 'Billion-Dollar Industry' of Cruelty

During the same exchange at Swinburne, Markle argued that major social media companies remain structurally uninterested in reducing harm on their platforms. In her view, they are 'not incentivised to stop,' as their business models are built around engagement rather than wellbeing.

She told students, 'Now, I am still here. And when I think of all of you and what you are experiencing, I think so much of that is having to realise that you know that industry, that billion-dollar industry that is completely anchored and predicated on cruelty to get clicks, that is not going to change. So you have to be stronger than that.'

It is a stark framing and a somewhat bleak one. Markle was not suggesting that regulation alone will fix the internet. Instead, she appeared to be telling a room of teenagers and young adults that, for now, their resilience is effectively acting as the safety net for a system that profits from their worst moments.

Her comments also place responsibility back on governments and regulators. If the industry will not change its incentives voluntarily, her argument suggests, then intervention elsewhere will be required. However, she stopped short of specifying what laws or sanctions might be needed, with a stronger emphasis placed on solidarity and peer support than on policy detail.

Students involved with Batyr, who work on destigmatising mental ill health in schools and universities, appeared to respond to that mix of vulnerability and challenge. For young people who spend much of their lives online, hearing a duchess describe feeling targeted there is not just celebrity gossip. It is a reminder that visibility, whether to a school year group or to millions of strangers, can attract a similar kind of cruelty.

Prince Harry Backs Australia's Under‑16 Social Media Ban

If Meghan Markle dwelt on the emotional toll of being 'bullied and attacked' online, Prince Harry focused on what governments can do. He praised Australia's decision to ban under-16s from using social media, calling it 'epic' from 'a responsibility and leadership standpoint.'

'Australia took the lead,' he told the group. 'Your government was the first country in the world to bring about a ban. Now we can sit here and debate the pros and cons of a ban, I am not here to judge that. All I will say is from a responsibility and leadership standpoint, epic.'

The duke's choice of word was almost boyish, but the point beneath it was not especially soft. Prince Harry went on to say the situation 'should have never got to a ban,' arguing that platforms had failed so comprehensively to police themselves that governments have now felt obliged to intervene.

'It should have never, ever got to a ban. And now that the ban is in place, now what follows?' he asked. 'Because the companies themselves have to be accountable, and there is no way that young people should be punished by being banned from something that should be safe to use, no matter what.'

That last line carries significant weight. Harry is effectively accusing tech firms of forcing policymakers into a blunt solution that restricts the very people platforms were meant to connect, while those who built and run the systems avoid meaningful consequences.

Neither Meghan nor Harry offered a detailed blueprint for what accountability should look like in practice. There was no list of fines, duties of care or algorithmic disclosures. Instead, they provided a broader moral framing, arguing that a 'billion-dollar industry' cannot reasonably expect teenagers to carry the burden of its excesses alone, and that bans are a blunt substitute for platforms that are not yet safe enough to use.

Earlier on Thursday, before the university event, the couple joined Melbourne's Scar Tree Walk, a route that links traditional and contemporary Aboriginal cultures along the Yarra River and reflects the histories of the Kulin Nation. Joggers and cyclists on one of the city's best-known running tracks reportedly appeared stunned to see Prince Harry and Meghan Markle strolling past, folding a conversation about historic scars into a day dominated by digital ones.