Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will return to NYC next week to host Archewell’s mental health summit – five months after their ‘near catastrophic car chase’ in Big Apple

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will return to New York City in mid-October for the Archewell Mental Health Summit, the first-ever in-person event for the foundation.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be in the Big Apple for the event on October 10, five months after their ‘near-catastrophic car chase’ through the city.

The Archewell Foundation Parents’ Summit aims to help families navigate children’s mental health and well-being in the digital age. PEOPLE reports.

Parents who have suffered a loss due to or related to their child’s social media have been specially invited to the event.

“The families have been involved with the Archewell Foundation over the past year, strengthening the community and driving solutions,” a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told PEOPLE.

“Together they are united in their mission to share personal experiences, data and research to ensure the same thing does not happen to other families,” they said.

Markle, 42, and Prince Harry, 39, will also be joined by US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to discuss mental health in a panel moderated by Carson Daly.

The pair – who are no strangers to advocacy work – were in New York in May for the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards, where Meghan was honored.

A statement from Sussex’s spokesperson called the incident a “near-catastrophic car chase by a group of very aggressive paparazzi.”

The spokesperson said the couple, as well as Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland, were victims of a “relentless chase that lasted more than two hours.”

It has been suggested that they were trying not to be followed to their residence on the city’s Upper East Side.

New York police subsequently told NBC that they did not believe the chase was “near to catastrophic.” They describe it as a ‘slightly chaotic scene’.

Julian Phillips, New York’s deputy commissioner for public information, also revealed that the NYPD was “assisting” the couple’s private security team.

New York Mayor Eric Adams expressed empathy and described the paparazzi’s actions as “reckless” and “irresponsible” but said he would find it “hard to believe” that a two-hour high-speed chase took place .

It’s unclear how long Meghan and Prince Harry will be in New York City for their upcoming visit, but they will be in town for World Mental Health Day on October 10.

According to PEOPLE, the couple will participate in a meeting about social media, mental health and how to empower and uplift others.

The summit as a whole is part of Project Healthy Minds’ second annual World Mental Health Day Festival, which is tackling the mental health crisis.

The subject is near and dear to Meghan and Prince Harry, who have been open and honest about their own mental health struggles in the past.

On the Archetypes podcast last October, the Duchess of Sussex discussed her own experience of getting a referral to a professional when she was at her ‘worst point’.

“I think at my worst point, when I was finally connected to someone where, you know, my husband found a referral that I could call. And I called this woman,” Meghan said.

‘She didn’t even know I was calling her. And she was paying at the supermarket. I could hear the little beep, beep, and I was like, “Hello,” and I introduce myself and you can literally go, wait, sorry. I’m normal. Who is this? Um, and say I need help. And she could hear the terrible condition I was in,” Meghan said.

“But I think it’s up to all of us to be very honest about what you need and not be afraid to make peace with that, to ask for it,” the Duchess of Sussex recalled.

The two have also discussed their mental health issues in interviews, including CBS’ March 2021 conversation with Oprah Winfrey.

In an Apple TV+ series that debuted in May 2021, Prince Harry discussed having panic attacks and going to therapy to deal with some of his trauma.

“Meeting and being with Meghan made me know that if I didn’t get therapy and fix myself, I would lose this woman who I saw myself spending the rest of my life with,” he said.

Earlier this year, Murthy said social media poses a “major risk of harm” to children and called for “immediate action to protect children now.”

The surgeon general said in an emergency health advisory published in May that the country is experiencing “a national youth mental health crisis.”

At the time, he pointed to social media as one of the main culprits.

Evidence has been mounting for years that social media is harmful to young people due to its highly sophisticated algorithms that can promote self-harm and other dangerous content to young users.