- - Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Highlight a Mother’s Fight That Changed U.K. Law: 'One Parent Can Change Everything'

Stephanie PetitFebruary 17, 2026 at 4:11 AM

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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry; Ellen Roome

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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry congratulated Ellen Roome, whose campaigning pushed through a new law in the U.K.

Through Jools’ Law, named in honor of Ellen's 14-year-old son, who died in 2022, a child's social media records will be preserved in the event of their death

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have made building a better online world a focus of their philanthropic work

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are applauding a changemaker.

On Monday, Feb. 16, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared an update on their website in support of Ellen Roome, whose campaigning led to an amendment being made to the U.K.'s Crime and Policing Bill. With Jools’ Law, named in honor of her 14-year-old son who died in 2022, a child's social media records will be preserved in the event of their death.

According to the post on Sussex.com, after Jools' death, "Ellen sought access to his social media accounts to understand what had happened, what he’d been exposed to, what he’d been interacting with. The companies refused — citing data protection policies and terms of service. Ellen could have accepted this. Instead, she dedicated herself to finding out what happened to her son and to ensuring no other parent faces the same barriers she did."

Ellen met with Archewell Philanthropies in New York City last year, where Jools appeared as part of the Lost Screen Memorial, honoring children whose lives ended due to the harmful effects of social media.

"Ellen’s strength isn’t unique — it’s what we’ve seen from every bereaved parent we’ve worked with. Their grief becomes purpose. Their loss becomes advocacy. And now, their fight has become law," the post on Meghan and Harry's website said. "To parents currently facing this struggle: you should never have been put through this. Change is possible. Ellen has proven it.""One parent can change everything. Thousands of families will now have answers because Ellen Roome refused to back down and give up," the post concluded. "Thank you, Ellen, and all of our courageous parents."

Prince Harry, 41, and Meghan, 44, have made building a better online world a focus of their philanthropic work.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on World Mental Health Day in October 2023

Bryan Bedder/Getty

Most recently, Prince Harry spoke to grieving families who have lodged a legal challenge against Instagram and YouTube, the BBC reported, on Feb. 11. It comes as a major trial begins to investigate whether the platforms hurt young people's mental health.

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They helped begin The Parents' Network in 2022 as a community for families who lost a child to social media-driven suicide or whose children have struggled because of online harms. In 2023, Archewell hosted a Parents’ Summit in honor of World Mental Health Day, bringing together parents who have experienced tragic loss connected to their child’s social media use for a discussion on building community and creating a safer online world.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry speak onstage the Project Healthy Minds World Mental Health Day Gala at Spring Studios on October 09, 2025

Rob Kim/Getty

In a CBS Sunday Morning segment that aired in August 2024, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex sat down with Jane Pauley to discuss the program's launch, drawing on their own experiences with online harassment and as parents of son Prince Archie, now 6, and daughter Princess Lilibet, now 4.

Meghan said, "All you want to do as parents is protect them. So as we can see what's happening in the online space, we know that there's a lot of work to be done there, and we're just happy to be able to be a part of change for good."

Added Prince Harry, "At this point, we've got to the stage where almost every parent needs to be a first responder. And even the best first responders in the world wouldn't be able to tell the signs of possible suicide. That is the terrifying piece of this."

After announcing a partnership between Parents Network and ParentsTogether in October 2025, Archewell granted ParentsTogether the full operational capacity and structure of the network, systems and processes, brand and creative assets. PEOPLE understands that Harry and Meghan are expected to remain involved with the Parents Network in some capacity, though no formal decisions about their ongoing role have been finalized as of January.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”