BBC journalist Mishal Husain has responded to Meghan Markle's description of her engagement interview as an "orchestrated reality show."
The Duchess of Sussex spoke to the BBC for the pooled interview announcing in November 2017 that she was to marry Prince Harry, a year after their relationship was first announced.
Husain conducted the interview, guiding the couple through their description of Harry popping the question as Meghan cooked roast chicken.
However, Meghan was later dismissive of the interview when asked about it on her Netflix show Harry & Meghan, replying simply: "Orchestrated reality show."
Husain told Saga magazine: "When the Duchess of Sussex said that my engagement interview with her and Harry was an 'orchestrated reality show,' I didn't know what to make of it.
"They seemed to have thought through what their new lives would be like and what marriage would mean for her life in particular," the journalist said.
"There was nothing that pointed to what would happen," Husain added, referencing Harry and Meghan quitting the royal family three years after the interview. "It was two people who were full of joy in each other and life."
Meghan and Harry began with a photo shoot in front of the royal correspondents and photographers who cover the British media outlets, in the Sunken Garden of Kensington Palace in London.
After that, the couple went into their interview with Husain, all of which came a year after a bombshell statement by palace communications secretary Jason Knauf, in which Harry denounced the media's treatment of the duchess.
"It was, you know, rehearsed," Meghan said. "So we did the thing out with the press and then we went right inside, took the coat off and did the interview so it's all in that same moment."
The duchess continued: "My point is we weren't allowed to tell our story because they didn't want..."
"Well, we've never been allowed to tell our story," Harry said. "That's the consistency."
Outside of responding to Meghan's comments to her Netflix show, Husain also spoke of her pride in covering King Charles III's coronation in May 2023 and Queen Elizabeth II's funeral in September 2022.
"Being in this job has given me a ringside seat at some extraordinary moments of history," Husain told Saga.
"For Queen Elizabeth II's funeral and again for the King's Coronation, I was standing outside Westminster Abbey, watching the processions and praying I would find the right words to convey the scenes before me to millions of listeners.
"There is a huge responsibility that comes with that, and it's also an immense privilege. I am conscious of both, and never take being in this special position of trust for granted."
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
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