Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are preparing to travel to Brussels for their first joint trip abroad since returning to the United Kingdom.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are scheduled to visit the Belgian capital on Tuesday, November 10, to open the Lost Screen Memorial. Harry, 42, and Meghan, 45, first introduced the installation in New York City in April 2025. The memorial honors children who lost their lives following harmful experiences involving social media.
Meghan later traveled to Switzerland in May 2026, bringing the installation to Geneva’s Place des Nations.
The Lost Screen Memorial features 50 smartphone screens, each displaying a lock-screen photograph of a child whose life was cut short after being affected by the dangers of social media. The photographs were provided by parents belonging to the Archewell Foundation Parents’ Network, who want to highlight the urgent need for safer digital environments.
During their Brussels visit, the Sussexes are expected to deliver a keynote address emphasizing the importance of taking meaningful action to protect children online.
Prince Harry will also take part in a panel discussion titled “Beyond Promises: Building a Digital Future That Works for Children.”
Meghan and Harry Continue Their Campaign for Children’s Online Safety
The memorial represents another step in Prince Harry and Meghan’s ongoing efforts to encourage safer online spaces for children and families.
Their work has included Harry’s remarks during a 2024 engagement involving the Clinton Foundation and the Parents’ Network. Established in August 2024, the network supports families whose children have experienced the harmful effects of social media.
The community offers assistance to parents dealing with a wide range of difficult circumstances, including children who have faced near-fatal online-related harm, ongoing mental health struggles, or the devastating loss of a child.
At the New York launch of the Lost Screen Memorial, Prince Harry spoke about the children represented in the installation and the responsibility of digital platforms.
“These children were not sick. Their deaths were not inevitable—they were exposed to, and in many cases were pushed, harmful content online, the kind any child could encounter. No child should be exploited, groomed, or preyed upon in digital spaces. To the platforms, they may be seen as statistics. To their families, they were cherished and irreplaceable.”
Meghan also shared a powerful observation from one of the fathers involved in the project.
“One of the fathers said, ‘All these photographs, as you can see, illustrate the children that are lost. But we don’t have photographs of all the children who will be saved.’”
First Joint Overseas Trip Since Returning to Britain
The Brussels engagement will be the couple’s first joint international trip since their return to the United Kingdom.
In August, Harry and Meghan announced plans to leave California and spend an extended period living in Britain. They returned to Harry’s home country that same month, and their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, began attending school there just weeks later.
The couple made their first joint public appearance following the move on October 15 in Nottingham, where they visited several charitable organizations.
Since then, the family has largely stayed out of the public eye. They also enjoyed a holiday with close relatives and friends during Archie and Lilibet’s half-term school break.
Brussels Visit Comes After Allegations Involving Meghan’s Father
The upcoming trip will also mark Harry and Meghan’s first public appearance since allegations involving Meghan’s estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr., became the subject of widespread attention.
On October 22, The Sun reported that Meghan’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., had contacted police and the FBI after allegedly discovering child sexual abuse images at their father’s home in Cebu, Philippines.
The following day, the publication released another report claiming to have obtained a copy of a letter sent to the Metropolitan Police. The letter reportedly contained allegations that Thomas Sr. had sexually abused a child and claimed he had admitted to traveling to the Philippines and Thailand to abuse children.
It later emerged that the letter had been written by Thomas Sr.’s former wife, Roslyn Loveless.
In a statement shared with PEOPLE on October 23, Meghan referred to the letter sent to police and addressed the allegations involving her father.
She said the letter “made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father, and I was given assurances that these were being investigated.”
Thomas Sr. had previously acknowledged to the Mail on Sunday that he paid for sex with adult women in the Philippines. However, he denied having sexual relations with anyone under the age of 18 and denied possessing child sexual abuse material.
He has not been charged in connection with the allegations.
A friend recently spoke to PEOPLE about the emotional impact the situation has reportedly had on Meghan.
“It’s been really difficult. She’s really cut up,” the friend said. “She has young children, and I think that, alongside the victims, is just weighing on her mind. It’s traumatic.”
The friend also suggested that there was “a slight sense of relief that this is all coming out,” while expressing hope that “a proper investigation can take place.”
