Meghan Markle says 'being a mum' is 'the most important thing' in her 'life' as Prince Harry reveals the one thing he hopes his kids 'never have to experience'

In an emotional appearance for World Mental Health Day, Meghan Markle shared that 'being a mum' is 'the most important thing' in her 'life' while Prince Harry revealed there is one thing he hopes his young children will 'never have to experience' as they grow up.

• Meghan Markle has said that 'being a mum' is 'the most important thing' in her 'life' during a sweet appearance in New York with Prince Harry.
• During the engagement, Prince Harry also revealed that he hopes his children 'never have to experience' the harsh online world as they grow up and wishes to keep them off of social media for as long as possible. 
• In other royal news, The great baby naming hack that the Royal Family do and you'll wish you did it too.

Yesterday, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry touched down in New York city for the first time since they were involved in a 'near catastrophic car chase' with paparazzi earlier this year, marking World Mental Health Day in the bustling city. 

The couple hosted a panel for parents, highlighting the struggles children face in the modern world largely thanks to social media and online bullying. The talks quickly  turned to the couple's own roles as parents to their two young children, Prince Archie, four, and Princess Lilibet, two, who sit sixth and seventh in the royal line of succession respectively. 

The panel was an emotional one, made up of parents who have lost children in events connected to their social media use. Harry and Meghan have been working with these families for the previous year, PEOPLE Magazine reports, with Meghan saying at the panel, "A year ago we met some of the families, and at the time, it was impossible not to be in tears hearing their stories because it's just that devastating."

The meetings hit the couple hard, they revealed, as they couldn't help but worry about the online landscape their children will inherit. Meghan shared, "As parents, though our kids are really young, 2 1/2 and 4 1/2, but social media isn't going away and by design, there was an entry post that was supposed to be positive and create community but something has devolved and there's no way to hear that and not try to help these families have their stories be heard."

Elsewhere during the talks, Meghan shared that 'being a mum' is 'the most important thing' in her 'life,' and said she 'feels frightened' for what experiences her kids may have online as they grow up. 

She said, "Being a mom is the most important thing in my entire life — outside, of course, being a wife to this one," she said, gesturing to Harry. "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 at how it's continuing to change and this will be in front of us."

She added, "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 energy by the progress we've made in the past year being able to have these incredible parents, these survivors of these experiences, share their stories and the more information gathering we're able to do, the more we can move the needle a little bit.

"Everyone is affected by the online world and social media. we all just want to feel safe. I'm confident that with more ears and awareness and visibility of what is really happening, we can make some significant change together."

Chiming in, Prince Harry shared with the panel his belief that today's children are being used as 'digital experiments' with the internet not being regulated enough and the harms caused by online exposure not yet being fully understood. 

As reported by The Sun, he said, "My kids are too young to have experienced the online world yet and I hope that they never have to experience it as it exists now – no kid should have to.

"My two little ones are still of the age of innocence - sometimes I feel I can keep them away from the online harms that they could face in the future forever but I am learning to know better. As parents, my wife and I are concerned about the next generation growing up in a world where they are treated as digital experiments."

It's not the first time Harry has opened up about his dire worries for not only his own growing children, but children everywhere when it comes to the internet. Last year during a webinar appearance to launch the Global Child Online Safety Toolkit, the royal shared, "As parents, my wife and I are concerned about the next generation growing up in a world where they are treated as digital experiments for companies to make money and where things like hatred and harm are somehow normalised.

“My two little ones are still at their age of innocence. Sometimes I feel like I can keep them away from the online harm that they could face in the future forever, but I’m learning to know better.

“We are at a critical moment, where it will take all of us working together to listen and respond to make sure every child can grow up in a digital age that allows them to thrive."