Meghan Markle says she's 'one of the most bullied people in the world'

The Duchess of Sussex, 43, joined Santa Barbara's Girls Inc. - a programme focusing on empowering young girls and improving their relationship with technology - for an afternoon of arts and crafts

Meghan Markle said she was "one of the most bullied people in the world" while meeting a group of teenagers last week, a charity boss has revealed.

The Duchess of Sussex, 43, joined Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara on October 2 for an afternoon of arts and crafts and to lend a hand with their new digital-wellness programme called Social Media U. Non-profit Girls Inc - which focuses on empowering girls - collaborated with #HalfTheStory, which aims to improve youngsters' relationship with technology to roll out the programme.

#HalfTheStory founder Larissa May told Vanity Fair how Meghan "talked about being one of the most bullied people in the world". She explained: "We did an activity where we talked through a bunch of different scenarios, and Meghan talked about being one of the most bullied people in the world. We had girls wave these little emoji signs and talk about how each one of these scenarios would have impacted them emotionally."

"We talked about what it really means to grow up in this digital age," added Ms May. The Social Media U curriculum aims to encourage teenagers to socialise without screens, and also help them use technology for creativity and positive contact. 

The curriculum, which the Duchess helped try out during her visit, is being financially supported by Meghan and Prince Harry's Archewell Foundation, the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation, and Melissa French Gates's Pvitoral Ventures. It's not the first time the Duchess has opened up about being the victim of cyber-bullying. At the SXSW festival in March this year, Meghan said she was subjected to "hateful" messages while pregnant with Archie and Lilibet.

She had been invited to the popular Texas festival to discuss "breaking barriers and challenging stereotypes". She spoke about her use of social media, claiming that the worst abuse she received happened while she was pregnant with the two young royals.

"I keep my distance from it right now for my wellbeing but the bulk of the bullying and abuse I was experiencing in social media and online was when I was pregnant with Archie and with Lili, and with a newborn, with each of them," she said.

"You just think about that and to wrap your head about why people would be so hateful. It's not catty it's cruel. Why you would do that when you're pregnant or as a mom it's such a tender and sacred time."

She added: "You could succumb to it, or nearly succumb to how painful that is. Or maybe because I was pregnant that mammalian instinct just kicks in to do everything you can to protect your child and as a result protect yourself too.'"

It comes after an expert said Meghan and her husband Prince Harry face a huge "family dilemma" in relation to their two children. For Harry, spending time in the UK with his wife and children poses a huge problem as he previously said it was too dangerous for him to bring them to his homeland, as they are not automatically entitled to police protection when in the UK.

And speaking to The Sun, royal biographer Ingrid Seward explained: "There's the problem of the security which is still not solved, and Harry says he won't bring his wife and children back here until he feels that he is in a secure position. I do think that Harry and Meghan have a dilemma with their family life, because the children are getting older, and the children are probably absolutely intrigued to know what their cousins are like. They wouldn't remember them.

"And I think that maybe an invitation from Charles Spencer might be attractive, and they would meet other cousins. But then it's going to raise a lot of questions. Is Harry going to see his father? Is he going to see any other members of his family? So I would think at the moment they're undecided. They seem to make a lot of fairly last-minute decisions in their lives."

It has previously been reported that unless Harry can overturn a ruling by the Home Office that he is not immediately entitled to police protection when in the UK - he does not feel he can bring Meghan, Archie and Lilibet to his homeland.