Journalist Responds to Meghan Markle’s Engagement Interview ‘Orchestrated Reality Show’ Comment With Nod to Memorable Royal Family Moment

TL;DR: 

• Meghan Markle described her and Prince Harry’s 2017 engagement interview as “rehearsed” in Netflix’s Harry & Meghan docuseries.
• Mishal Husain, the journalist who conducted the interview, referenced a royal family statement in response.
• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s engagement interview took place on Nov. 27, 2017, at Kensington Palace.

“Recollections may vary.” It was the memorable phrase heard ‘round the world after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2021 Oprah interview. Now it’s back. Well, sort of. The journalist who conducted the couple’s engagement interview referenced it following the Duchess of Sussex’s comment in Harry & Meghan about the 2017 interview being “rehearsed.”  

[Spoiler alert: Spoilers ahead for Harry & Meghan: A Netflix Global Event.]

Meghan Markle called her and Prince Harry’s engagement interview an ‘orchestrated reality show’ in ‘Harry & Meghan’

In the third episode of Netflix’s Harry & Meghan docuseries (volume II drops Dec. 15), the Duke and Duchess of Sussex revisited their engagement. Specifically, their post-announcement photo call and interview. 

On Nov. 27, 2017, the now parents of two posed for photos at Kensington Palace’s Sunken Garden before sitting down for an interview. Harry and Meghan spoke with journalist Mishal Husain about their romance and becoming engaged during “a cozy night” at Nottingham Cottage. However, Meghan didn’t necessarily look back on the interview fondly. 

“We weren’t allowed to tell our story because they didn’t want …” she said in the Netflix docuseries (via Express). “Orchestrated reality show, yep. It was, you know, rehearsed.”

“So we did the thing out with the press and then we went right inside, took the coat off, sat down and did the interview. So it’s all in that same moment,” Meghan continued. 

She also gave an example, saying she’d been told, “There’ll be a moment when they want to see the ring, so show the ring.”

The journalist who interviewed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after their engagement responded with ‘recollections may vary’

Husain, the journalist who spoke with Harry and Meghan for their engagement interview, responded to Meghan’s comments after Harry & Meghan premiered on Dec. 8. 

In doing so, Husain referenced the three words — “recollections may vary” — in the royal family’s response to the couple’s 2021 Oprah interview.

“We know recollections may vary on this particular subject,” Husain told Radio 4’s Today (via Express). “But my recollection is definitely very much, asked to do an interview, and do said interview.”

Buckingham Palace’s statement on March 9, 2021, including the “recollections may vary” phrase, read as follows: 

“The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.”

Journalist remembered day of the Harry and Meghan engagement interview as ‘full of joy’ 

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Husain also spoke to BBC about Harry and Meghan’s engagement interview following the Netflix docuseries’ release. She called it a day “full of joy” when she went to Kensington Palace ot film the interview. 

“The major focus of everyone who was there from the BBC team was to make sure Harry and Meghan were at the heart of it and felt as comfortable as possible because this was their day,” she said. 

Husain also explained she’d been asked to conduct the interview the night before it was recorded. 

“We went to Kensington Palace, the whole thing was recorded in a very discreet and small-scale way and on the editorial side, there were only two of us,” she recalled. “We had a discussion with Harry and Meghan and two of their team beforehand. And we talked about what we would cover, what they were comfortable sharing.”

“This was an interview that was introducing themselves to the world and they were very much in love, very much in tune with each other,” she concluded.

The first three episodes of Harry & Meghan are streaming on Netflix. An additional three episodes are to follow on Dec. 15. 

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