Prince Harry got emotional as he addressed parents who lost children to online harms during an unannounced appearance in Los Angeles.

On Feb. 11, the Duke of Sussex, 41, spoke to grieving families who have lodged a legal challenge against Instagram and YouTube, the BBC reported, as a major trial begins to investigate whether the platforms hurt young people’s mental health.

The Daily Mail reported that Meghan Markle, 44, was with him, though she was not pictured.

As seen in a video shared by BBC Breakfast on Feb. 12, the father of two appeared to fight back tears as he told families, “None of you should be here,” and referenced his own emotional experiences in courtrooms. In January, Prince Harry testified against the publisher of the Daily Mail in London court in a lawsuit accusing the group of unlawful information gathering, his last in a series of lawsuits against various British tabloids in recent years.

King Charles’ younger son spoke from the heart on Wednesday night in L.A. and said, “We’ve said time and time again that this is a David versus Goliath situation. I’ve been in some similar situations myself, vastly different, but when you’re sitting [in court] and if you have that feeling of just overwhelming emotion, because you can’t believe that the people on the other side are saying what they’re saying, that by the very nature of defending what they’re defending, the lies that they are stating, is devaluing life, is devaluing your children’s lives, if that brings stuff up for you, it is totally normal.”

“Do not feel ashamed, do not feel concerned, even if the judge, as I heard, turned around and asked you not to show emotion. As I said, none of you should be here,” Harry continued, appearing to fight back tears as his voice cracked. “Sorry.”

“Thank you for doing everything that you’ve done. Thank you for telling your stories over and over again. Truth, justice and accountability — those are the three things that will come from this,” he said.

According to the Daily Mail, Prince Harry joined British families who traveled to California to support the start of the case. Opening statements began this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court as Meta-backed Instagram and YouTube, owned by Google, respond to claims that their sites deliberately addict and harm children, the Associated Press reported. Fellow social platforms TikTok and Snap were originally named in the lawsuit but settled for undisclosed sums.

The Los Angeles Times said that the case has the potential to shape “thousands of other pending lawsuits, transforming the legal landscape for some of the world’s most powerful companies.” Instagram head Adam Mosseri testified on Feb. 11, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify next week.

Prince Harry and Meghan have made advocating for a safer online world a key focus of their philanthropic work and emphasized the significance of the case in a new statement shared on their sussex.com website.

(Left) Meghan Markle at Project Healthy Minds’ World Mental Health Day Festival in New York City on Oct. 10, 2025; (Right) Prince Harry at at Project Healthy Minds’ World Mental Health Day Festival in New York City on Oct. 10, 2025.Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty (2)

“Through their philanthropic efforts in the online harms space spanning six years of dedicated learning, listening, and advocacy, Prince Harry and Meghan, today, recognize the pivotal moment taking place this week as it pertains to families seeking truth, justice and safeguards for children and communities around the world,” the statement from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex began. “Families devastated by online harm have waited too long for this moment.”

“Our growing community of The Parents’ Network have lived through the horrific consequences of cyberbullying, algorithm-driven manipulation, and worse. They as well as whistleblowers have told us for years that platforms prioritize engagement over safety,” it continued.

“This week, social media companies are starting to face accountability across the world,” the statement went on, in part, and discussed the jury trial in Los Angeles plus other updates in Spain, Australia, France and Denmark relating to increased restrictions on social media use for youth.

Meghan has previously spoken about how online noise has affected her mental health and she and Harry began The Parents Network in 2022. The initiative gathered a community of families in the U.S. who lost a child to social media-driven suicide or whose children have struggled because of platforms online.

The Parents Network has since expanded to the U.S. and Canada and it was announced in January that the couple transferred the project to the nonprofit. ParentsTogether.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made the move amid a transition of operations at their charitable Archewell Foundation, now called Archewell Philanthropies. PEOPLE understands that they are expected to remain involved with the Parents Network in some capacity, though no formal decisions about their role have been finalized.